It's All Good

I have a problem with the title Good Friday. I know it is good. But I have a hard time calling it Good. How can it be good when my Lord and King suffered and died on a cross for my sins? That is exactly it. It is good because he hung there for me, for my sins, for my redemption. But the Good news doesn't end there. Hallelujah! In three days, He rose again, conquering death, proving himself Lord and is seated at the Fathers right hand. Do you know him? Have you not heard? Below is the beginning of the story of the next three days... Read it and know what He has done for you, how He can wash you white as snow and how there is nothing that is too big for Him to forgive. He has already died for you and for any sin you have committed. Accept Him and know Peace.

Matthew 27

Judas Hangs Himself

¹Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. ²They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

³When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."

⁵So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." ⁷So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."^a]">[a]

Jesus Before Pilate

¹¹Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

¹²When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. ¹³Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" ¹⁴But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

¹⁵Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. ¹⁶At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. ¹⁷So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" ¹⁸For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.

¹⁹While 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."

²⁰But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

²¹"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.

²²"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"

²³"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"

²⁵All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

²⁶Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

²⁷Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. ²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. ³⁰They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. ³¹After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

³²As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). ³⁴There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.^b]">[b] ³⁶And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. ³⁸Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴²"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " ⁴⁴In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi,^c]">[c] lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"^d]">[d]

⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

⁵⁰And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. ⁵²The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴When 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^e]">[e] of God!"

⁵⁵Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. ⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁷As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶²The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' ⁶⁴So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

⁶⁵"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." ⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

*The above scripture was found on Bible Gateway.

Easter and Our Spring Break Dream List

We had a wonderful Easter Celebration. We spent the morning at church celebrating our Risen Lord and watching Abigail and John sing. Can you pick out my kids (see video below)? We spent the afternoon at my parents, sharing in a wonderful meal and a fun egg hunt for the children. Enjoy the pictures...

Yummy Easter candy!

Easter with Papa and Granmommy

Daniel hunts for eggs on the beach...

while John hits the jackpot on the grass...

and the girls, with baskets full, also head to the beach to search!

Most of our Easter crew went outdoors to watch the children. Our wonderful PA family and Granmommy were responsible for the egg stuffing.
So much fun-thank you!

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We have been on Spring Break at home this week. Peter took off of work for the first 3 days of our sweet vacation. A few weeks ago I sat down with the kids and had them brainstorm about things they would like to do during our time off of school. They had some great ideas, which I built upon and then formulated, on paper, how we would approach getting their individual ideas done by doing one per child per day.
This is how we spent our 3 days, at home, limited expense, lots of fun and all 6 of us together!

Monday:
1. Trip to Toys R Us to spend gift money from Gram. Everyone picked out what they wanted. The result was a nice long time at the store and sweet joy watching their faces as they tried to decide what to purchase!

The boys are happy with their purchases!

2. Rearrange girls room to accommodate organization of toys, dolls, etc.
3. Jump on trampoline (all of us together).
4. Play choo-choo's and build the spiral track (all of us together).

Tuesday:
1. Ride bikes (all of us together).
2. Host a Tea Party. The girls baked scones and a doll cake, made egg salad, set the table and donned their bonnets for impromptu (it was only going to be the girls and Mom and Dad originally) afternoon tea with their Mom, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Aunt and Great Aunt. When offering teas they accidentally offered their Great-Grandmother a laxative tea. Fortunately I caught it before my grandmother found it an appealing choice!

3. Play Spiderman. We let John (our Spiderman dude) play the part and try to get us all in his web (silly string) in the front yard. We all picked up the string when his can was empty and covered him with it. It was such a fun time. The laughs were wonderful.
4. Play a choo-choo game. We were all excited to get back to our spiral track rather than play the game that Mommy and Daddy had invented for this event.
5. Watch a movie. Yea!

Wednesday:
1. Paint/Arts and Craft We let the children get out the t-fabric paint. The girls designed their t's from their Great Uncle and Aunt in PA while the boys covered some boxers with trains, spider webs and beep-beeps (this is the word for cars in our house).
2. Gymnastics at the new homeschool class in town. All 4 were able to attend and it was fun to watch them run, jump, bounce, swing, etc. This may turn into a regular event.
3. Eat a fun snack. This was John's brainstorming idea. We let him (the 4yo) plan dinner and boy am I glad I did. He picked hamburgers, french fries (we substituted tater tots) and a special drink. I found the new AirForce sodas at Sam's Club and we all enjoyed one.
4. Last but not least we intended to camp on on the trampoline or in the family room. This actually turned into the kids watching another movie and camping out downstairs for a while. Daniel was not feeling well yesterday (runny nose, cough, etc) so he didn't camp out.