Soap Box

Can you imagine being in Jerusalem on that day over two thousand years ago when the cross was placed on Jesus' back and already weakened by a cruel flogging and continuous abuse He stumbled down the Via Dolorosa toward the hill of Golgotha to be crucified between two criminals.

Can you envision the cruelty of the crowd along the way who hurled taunts and insults and laughed at this bloodied man with the crown of thorns on His head who had healed the cripple, given sight to the blind and even raised the dead but spoke not a word in His defense when sentenced to a horrible death of slow suffocation while in unimaginable pain with nails driven through His hands and feet.

Can you picture the anguish of His mother and the few followers who had not run away in fear of the Sanhedrin and the excommunication they had the power to levy on those who had followed this new prophet, this revolutionary figure who had the audacity to confront the highest religious leaders in the land and claimed to be the embodiment of a New Covenant the scriptures had foretold.

Was He not the one who had been sent to deliver them, to restore Israel to its former glory, to banish the conquerors from the Holy Land? And yet here He was falling under the weight of a Roman cross, weakened, bloody and oh, so human, stumbling to His death without once taking up a sword or leading an assault on a Roman garrison.

Was this not the man who had, opened blind eyes and straightened crippled limbs, who had walked on the Sea of Galilee and fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish?

Was He not the one who had called Lazarus out of a tomb after he had been dead for several days?

If He was who He said He was, why did He not call down fire from heaven or beckon a brigade of angels with fiery swords and cut down the arrogant Roman soldiers who goaded Him up on Calvary?

Actually the whole event is foretold in the writings of the ancient Jewish prophets in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, including the manner of his death, the fact that He would go meekly forth to it like a sheep being lead to slaughter and not utter a word in His defense.

He hung on that cross for around six hours and with His final breath said, "It is finished". The circle of man's salvation had been completed with the one-time shedding of His blood. The New Covenant had been established.

The thick veil that covered the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn in half signifying that mankind no longer had to approach God Almighty through a human intercessor, but could symbolically enter the very throne room of God to bring their praises and requests.

When Jesus died on the cross the sky darkened, there was an earthquake and many righteous people who had died and been laid to rest came out of their graves and were seen by many in Jerusalem.

The scripture even foretells that He would be laid in a rich man's tomb and this prophecy was fulfilled when Joseph of Arimathea offered the new tomb he had had made for himself in a garden not far from the site of Jesus� crucifixion.

On the third day of His entombment the miracle of all miracles happened and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was raised from the dead, appeared to, talked to and even ate with His disciples before ascending to the sky from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

The scriptures also tell us that one day He will return and this time not as the Lamb of God but as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, to right all wrongs and sit in judgment on the nations and the people of the earth.

To all my Christian brothers and sisters, all of the Daniels family and the CDB organization wish you a most blessed Easter and great hope in this season of new beginnings.

To my Jewish brothers and sisters we wish you a wonderful Passover season as you celebrate the rich heritage of your people.

ייתכן שאלוהים שמוגש על ידי שני נוצרים ויהודים יברך לשמר את ישראל

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels​