These Are My JOTtings, Part #2

Secret Christmas: "He Arose"

"Prompt #1
Easter: Sunday, April 4, 2021

Free Write about Easter."

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Christmas comes throughout the year for those with eyes to see it.

Jesus left His stable Home in Heaven to enter a stable home on Earth.
Jesus's Heavenly Father is responsible for everything, that has been created.
Jesus' Earthly father was a carpenter, making many things from wood.

Did Joseph make the manger in which Jesus was laid?

In the Trinity and from Eternity Jesus has always been wrapped in Light.
In the manger, Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Jesus lived away from human eyes in Eternity for many Earth-years
before being laid in a cave as a little Baby.
Jesus lived away from the public eye in Nazareth for many years
before being laid in a tomb, that was a cave, as a punished criminal.

Jesus lived His earthly years as the supposedly illegitimate son of Mary, Joseph's wife.
Jesus was crucified as the supposedly illegitimate messiah of the nation of Israel.

Being born in a nondescript stable was an ignominious beginning, but the lowest strata of human society, the shepherds welcomed Him and brought Him praise.
Being laid in a nondescript tomb was an ignominious ending to the life of a humble, itinerate, homeless rabbi, but a couple of women welcomed His resurrection on the third day with belief.

The leaders of the days of His earthly sojourn hated Him so badly, that they violated many of their own laws to get Him crucified. They didn't care. They were done.

In an interesting turn of events, the notorious criminal, Barabbas (aka "Son of the Father") was pardoned in order for Jesus, the Son of Father God, to take his place in crucifixion. Jesus took Barabbas' place, and Barabbas was pardoned. Jesus took the place of everyone, who has ever been pardoned through eternal Salvation.

Jesus is the Only Human to ever live the life of perfection, but He died at the hands of imperfect humans by the cruelest of all human methods of capital punishment.

Jesus bore our sin because since He had no sin of His own,
He was the Only One, Who could bear our sin.
Jesus provided the garment of perfection to receptive humans,
who had no perfection of their own.

The Lord of Glory, Who is clothed in Light,
had to die the death of shame without clothes.
Almighty God died the death of the cross as the Man,
Who gave other men the power to make Him appear to be powerless.

Some may consider the expression, "rise on the third day" to be indicative of death for 72 hours. I do not subscribe to that view.

1. Jesus died around 3:00 PM on that Friday. He was buried before sundown.
By Jewish number designation, that was "death on the first day."
2. Jesus' body laid in the tomb throughout the Sabbath,
which ended at sundown on that Saturday. That was "death on the second day."
3. Jesus rose from the dead around 6:00 AM (aka sunrise) on Sunday,
the first day of the week. That was resurrection on the third day.

In my humble opinion, Jesus was only dead for approximately 39 hours,
which is roughly half of the expected time.
3:00 PM on Friday to 6:00 AM on Sunday makes 39 hours.
I'm sure that number is significant. I simply need to study and meditate on it more.

Easter Sunday morning is the first day of the first week of Salvation.
Easter Sunday morning designates the New Day of human HIStory.
Easter Sunday morning is Resurrection Day.
Resurrection Day is Secret Christmas because
"The Best Present of Christmas was opened on Resurrection Sunday morning."

May we always remember, that Christmas without Easter would be meaningless,
but Easter without Christmas would be impossible.
Ultimately, Christmas is the first step to the Resurrection of Jesus
and it is the first step to the Salvation of believers.
That makes Christmas, Easter's Foreshadow,
and that makes Easter, Second Christmas (or Secret Christmas.)

Years ago, I started a blog on WordPress with the name, Secret Christmas.
https://secret777christmas.wordpress.com/
It's no longer a secret to you, but for many humans,
the Greatest Christmas, which is Easter, is still a secret.

Let's tell them the secret, too.
Let's help their hearts to be truly blessed.

by Jay O’Toole
on April 28th, 2021