At this time every year I feel compelled to share my little Spring “ditties” to celebrate the new season. First is a little poem I picked up many years ago from a source long forgotten.
Spring Has Sprung
Spring has sprung, the grass has riz;
I wonder where the birdies is.
The birdies on the wing I heard.
I thought the wing was on the bird.
[I heard that ‘groan’]
Then there’s the question that’s on everyone’s mind this time of year: if April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
The answer, of course is that May flowers bring pilgrims!
[Oh come on – this is good stuff!]
On a more serious front, although Easter was officially in March this year, this season is associated with the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Is there anything more important to us than the resurrection? The apostle Paul put it this way: “I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!” [Philippians 3:7-11 NLT]
Jesus’ resurrection has led to our resurrection from death (spiritually) to life (spiritually). Plus it points us toward the time when Jesus returns to resurrect us out of this earthly life to our new life with Him.
Somewhere along the way I received an email with some information concerning Jesus’ original victory over death, hell and the grave. Not being of Jewish heritage I was not aware of this. Here is an excerpt from the email:
The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, ‘They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!’ Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side. Was that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes! In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.
The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.
When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished. Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m finished.” But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because… the folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back!”
Maranatha! Even so come Lord Jesus!