“They left Jesus for dead. But out of sight and beyond human power to interfere, God worked the most stupendous miracle of human/divine transformation in cosmic history and threw open the doors of Heaven.”
Decades ago, I was in an intense Christian ministry training program and living in a rented home in the Bay Area.
I had cobbled together a private study in the back of a detached garage, connected to the house by a winding path of irregularly spaced flagstones.
While lovely and harmless in the daytime, that darkened footpath transformed into a precarious contest of hopscotch-to-safety at night.
My Nemesis
When we first moved in, I noticed a tangled knot of what I thought was a nasty weed growing up between two flagstones dead center of a particularly dark section of my passageway.
Time and again, while scurrying out to the office, I’d find myself tripping over that tangle — papers scattered, books dropped, pencils lost, coffee spilled.
So in response, for weeks there I’d be with a succession of garden tools, whacking away at that offending snare mercilessly — I even dreamed about TNT and biological warfare.
Nothing seemed to work. It always returned with a vengeance, surreptitiously extending its tripwire-like tentacles across my path like a living IED lying in wait as I naively approached.
Sometime later, we were called out of town for a three-week visit and prepared to lock up and vacate the house.
But first, I “carpet bombed” my nemesis with one last barrage of chemicals and various “small arms fire,” then off we went.
It’s Alive
We returned home from our trip around Good Friday and had lots of catching up to do, so I had no reason to go out to my office in the back until Easter afternoon.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I encountered.
There, standing proudly in the middle of my footpath (where the nasty “weed” had been) was a spectacularly beautiful, deliciously fragrant three-foot tall cluster of white calla lilies, literally glowing in the bright sunshine!
I felt like falling on my knees and begging forgiveness from that elegant, heavenly creature risen from deep in the ground beneath my feet.
How could I have done such things to something that intended nothing more than to bless me with its presence?
Another Cause for Stumbling
I was immediately struck by the similarities between my floral nemesis and an Old Testament prophesy that described a “stone” that God was going to place in the middle of apostate Israel’s “footpath” to get their attention.
Written by the 8th century BC prophet Isaiah, it spoke of the coming of their Messiah in Isaiah 28:16:
“Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.’”
Eight centuries later, the Apostle Paul identified that stone as a “stumbling block” that men would unwittingly trip over.
It turned out to be none other than Jesus Christ, as described in 1 Corinthians 1:22-24:
“For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles, foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Israel’s Nemesis
Jesus was tripping the religious leaders at every turn. He was becoming a political liability. Finally, they thought they were rid of him.
It wasn’t pretty — Isaiah had already predicted what was going to happen to him seven centuries in advance, in Isaiah 52:13-14:
“At first everyone was appalled. He didn’t even look human — a ruined face, disfigured past recognition.”
And then in Isaiah 53:7:
“He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn’t say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence.”
He’s Alive!
But then, in the short span of three days following His brutal execution, He was back. As written in Matthew 28:1-10:
“The angel spoke to the women: ‘There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as He said. Come and look at the place where He was placed.’ Now, get on your way quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He is risen from the dead.’”
It took that experience with my calla lilies to finally teach me the dazzling brilliance of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
They threw everything at Him and left Him for dead, yet He sprung forth in glorious victory.
How About You?
Please be careful not to stumble over Him. He wants to bless your life and make your heart into a garden, a living breathing expression of his resurrection.
Will you let Him?
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