By Faith

Years ago I  sit outside that empty tomb where Jesus was laid after his death on the cross, trying to get my human mind to wrap around how it must have felt for those who saw him beaten till blood was dripping from his body.  Carrying his own cross up the hill. Then laid on that wooden cross, nails put in his feet and hands, more blood dripping, then topped off with a crown of thorns pushed down on his head, more blood. How could one live with so much blood flowing from his body? How could they know how important His blood was, the power it had, the significance it had.  Did any of the disciples think about the blood, it was everywhere, their Jesus was being crucified, the one they had walked and talked, ate meal with, traveled the roads of Israel with, he was slowly dying.   What went through their mind, did they remember He said it would be this way?



Our first visit to Israel ended at that empty tomb which was so fitting after walking around the old city all day, we were so tired.   Then we walked down a small alley, seen a small sign that said, Garden Tomb above a door so we  stepped through it into a  simple shop.  On the other side of the shop is a big beautiful garden with paths winding down to a lower place where the tomb is.  There are natural places to sit, it quiet which was amazing to me because the city is right outside the walls of the garden.  But it's the natural doorway , cut out of stone, that ones eyes cannot leave. People are coming in and out and as I sit watching someone shut the wooden door and on it were these word, "He is not here, He has risen."  Tears begin to fall from my eyes and others as we read those words,  He is not here, He has risen

I have never forgotten that trip and the impact it had on me. But I was a believer of all I wrote before I saw it. By faith, I believe there was a garden tomb, by faith I believed who Jesus said He was, the Son of God, come to die for me and all who believe. By faith I believed He rose from that tomb and is now sitting at the right hand of His Father.  I am grateful it does not take our eyes seeing the place He was crucified or the tomb to believe that is where Jesus was buried and rose from.

Roman 10:9-10 If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.