As we have walked with you in sorrow and pain these past few days, we now joyfully celebrate the victory that has brought you back to us — your
Resurrection from the dead!
We joined you in the final supper that connected your impending sacrifice with
people of all ages to come.
We remained with you, though half asleep, in the garden of your agony.
We watched your cruel scourging, though from afar.
We saw them unfairly condemn you to death and followed you on the narrow streets of Jerusalem on your journey to Calvary.
We helped you carry your heavy cross and wiped the bloody stains from your brow.
We stood weeping at the foot of your cross, as you cried out to your Father in
loneliness and pain and asked forgiveness for us in our ignorance.
We shook with grief as you bowed your head in death, and we knew it was our sins that brought you to this violent end ….
And then we shared the joy of your victory over death as we found the stone rolled back and saw the empty tomb!
We heard you call us by name, and we placed our
fingers in your nail marks and our hand into the lance mark in your side.
It is with exuberant joy that we cry out today: “He is risen. He is truly risen!”
Will you walk with us, Lord, in the agony of our
daily defeats, in the pain of our many losses, in the wretchedness of our great sinfulness? Will you lift
our heavy crosses onto your shoulders and wipe
the sweat and blood from our eyes, when no one else is there to console us? Will you lead us through the Calvaries of our lives and give
us peace and hope and then, one day, allow
us to share the victory you won for us by the power of your Spirit as you followed your
Father’s holy will and set us free from sin and death through your Passion, your Death, and your Resurrection?
Published April 8, 2004