Obit

Good Friday, 2008. The day believers in The Way commemorate and memorialize the death of Jesus, the Christ. People who know a lot more than I do must have thought he was pretty important. His birth separated our calendar and our history as humans into all that came before him, and all that has come since. I'm not about to argue with them.

He was important. He is important. He will always be important. Jesus is the ultimate V.I.P. Yet the Bible teaches he gave up everything he had so that you and I should not perish. He couldn't love us any more than that, and he refuses to love us any less than that.

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FROM THE "JERUSALEM TIMES" OBITUARY PAGE

Jesus Christ, 33, of Nazareth, died today on Mount Calvary, also known as Golgotha, the Place of the Skull.

Betrayed by the apostle Judas, Jesus was crucified by the Romans, by order of the ruler Pontius Pilate. The cause of death was crucifixion, extreme exhaustion, severe torture, and loss of blood.

Jesus Christ was a descendent of Abraham, and a member of the house of David. He was the son of the late Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, and Mary, his devoted mother. He was born in a stable in Bethlehem, in Judea, and is survived by his mother Mary, his faithful apostles, numerous disciples, and many other followers.

Jesus was self-educated and spent most of his adult life working as a teacher. He also occasionally worked as a medical doctor and it is reported that he healed many patients. Up until the time of his death, Jesus was teaching and sharing what he called the "Good News," healing the sick, touching the lonely, feeding the hungry, and helping the poor.

Jesus was most noted for telling parables about his father's kingdom and performing miracles, such as feeding more than 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish, and healing a man who was born blind. On the day before his death, he held a Last Supper with his disciples, celebrating the Passover feast, at which time he actually foretold his death.

His body was quickly buried in a stone grave, which was donated to the family by Joseph of Arimathea, a loyal friend. By order of Pontius Pilate, a boulder was rolled in front of the tomb. Roman soldiers were also put on guard.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that everyone try to live as Jesus did. Donations may be directed to anyone in need.

[graphic submitted by list member Pam W.]

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Of course, this is only half of the story. The other half happens Sunday morning. Be sure you check this space on Sunday, too. You'll find a really neat video here. But if I don't see you this weekend, I'll see you on Monday.

Mark

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WEB SITE of the WEEK: If you have a long commute or your job allows you to wear headphones while you work, you might enjoy downloading a free classic book in an MP3 format (for Windows Media Players, CD players, etc.) or M4B format (for your iPod). Go to http://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/. The list has a baker's dozen of books read by a real human, and another half dozen of classic books converted to audio by "advanced text to speech" software.

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WORDS for YOUR WEEKEND: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." (C.S. Lewis)