Murder. I know, we’re not supposed to speak of such things on Easter Monday, the day after Resurrection Day. But we shall. Afterall, isn’t that what happened last Friday? A man was murdered. Oh Beth, you and your coarseness. You call it coarse, I call it direct. But, in order to not be swayed, which we humans are so easily, we must acknowledge things for what they truly are. The truth is a man was murdered.
But the Lord said, “What have you done?
Listen – your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!”
Genesis 4:10
The very first murder. Who are the players? Yes, Cain and Abel. Up to this point in the story of Jesus, we have only heard about four folks – Adam and Eve, and their children Cain and Abel. They had many more children, after all their job was to populate the earth. The only other one we know by name though is Seth. Back to the murder, Adam’s act in The Garden paved the way for the death of his son. Knowing how we feel about our own children, that’s a heavy thought, isn’t it?
God witnessed this act of violence, like He does all the violences in the world today, including Good Friday’s. “What have you done?” That’s the question for Cain. Cain may have tried to make explanation, maybe not. Listen…the voice of thy brothers blood cries out to me from the ground!
Does blood speak? Does blood cry out? Does blood have a voice? Most certainly. So, what is blood? Blood is fluid in the body that carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells and carries waste away from those same cells. Glaze over. I’m not a micro person, but that’s how I understand it. It’s kind of funny. Blood is one of those things I thought I understood until I read the definition. My understanding of blood was a little more dummied down – blood is life. You don’t have blood, you don’t have life. That wasn’t in any of the “official” definitions. Ok, whatever, I’ve gotten a little off track. Back to murder.
So we move from the first murder to the last murder.
When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed,
“Truly, this was the Son of God!”
Mark 15:39
This wasn’t the last murder ever, but it was the last murder before new life. What’s she talking about? We must understand death before we can understand life. This death led to life. He had to die so we could live. The opposite of murder is to preserve. He lost His life so ours could be preserved for all eternity. His murder and death were different from any we’ve ever heard about.
…they laid Jesus there.
John 19:42
Early Sunday morning…the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
John 20:1
He didn’t stay dead! He arose!
You followed God’s prearranged plan. With the help of lawless Gentiles,
you nailed him to the cross and murdered him.
However, God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life again, for death could not keep him in its grip.
Acts 2:24
Death could not hold Him! If it had, there would be no new life, only a dead man in a tomb!
You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which graciously forgives instead of crying out for vengeance as the blood of Abel did.
Hebrews 12:24
Yes! Blood does have a voice. Blood does speak. His blood flowed red in His death so that my sins could be made white in new life. Red washed white. Jesus’s blood does not cry out for vengeance as Abel’s blood did. Jesus’s blood cries out for forgiveness! Jesus’s blood cries out life!
Resurrection Day! Easter Monday! Celebration of Eternal Life Day!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!