Whatever happened to them?

 Whatever happened to them?

I think everyone has a story to tell…some may think their life is boring and have nothing to share, but their story may comfort another…some bit of encouragement, admonishment…something…God has worked in each of our lives distinctly… He has   saved us, comforted us, prayed for us, disciplined us, give us life experiences that shape us like no other…

Reading through the last days of Jesus’ earthly life…I wonder what happened to the people that are mentioned…

What happened to..

◦ Pilate and his wife…she was distressed, he handed over Jesus but put a sign on the Cross- Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews…

◦ The soldiers who mocked, stripped, and beat Jesus…were their consciences ever seared with their deeds…

◦ The people who cried, “crucify him”…

◦ The leaders who despised Jesus and wanted him dead…

◦ The soldiers who cast lots for his clothing…

◦ The centurion who praised  God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man” or “ surely he was the Son of God”…

◦ Those people who watched him die, who  beat their breasts and walked away…

◦ The people who were loosed from their graves, walked around and were seen by many…

◦ Those who stood by the roads earlier in the week, watching as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey…

◦ The man who has a room prepared for Jesus last supper…

What did these and many more tell their friends, their children, their grandchildren? About that week? Did it turn their lives to Jesus? Did they know or realize what was happening or what the ramifications were? Did they later hear of other happenings concerning Jesus or his disciples? 

Or was it just another week/day in the neighborhood?

How does this reading affect us now? And what do we do with it?

Showing the “Jesus film” to those who have never seen it brings some to their knees, others-walk away unfazed…

My husband talked about going across Mongolia with a film projector, showing the film over and over again…inside gers or on the sides of buildings…it touched people’s hearts…it got them run out of one town…welcomed in others…

Showing the film on the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico was amazing. People would gather wherever we set up the film, bringing their chairs, blankets, family members to watch the presentation and then the movie…what beautiful events…in tiny hamlets here and there in the countryside…

But, what happened to all those people we met and shared with…only God knows …He is the one that works in each of their lives…He worked in the lives of the ancients and He still works today…we are to do our part…whatever He has called us to do and leave the results in his mighty hands…

Thank YOU…

 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 

So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. 

While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!” 

Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 

After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. 

Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. 

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 

The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. 

The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 

They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Matt.27.1-2,Matt.27.19,Matt.27.22,Matt.27.27-31,27.37,Matt.27.51-54

Say Yes…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-GzU-PdR5c