Devotionals by Dr. M. Craig Barnes
Take courage; I have conquered the world. --
When Jesus said these words, he looked like anything but a conqueror.
The crowd that had praised his arrival into Jerusalem had now abandoned him.
Judas had betrayed him.
It would only be a few more moments before Jesus was arrested,
tried, and hung on a cross between two criminals.
Frankly, it looked like all the evil of the world was about to conquer Jesus.
And when we watched the horrors of this last week,
it looked like evil was still conquering Jesus.
The Gospel story does not end with the cross, however.
There is more; there is a resurrection.
When Jesus rose from the tomb, he didn't just conquer death for himself
but for all of us.
Prior to Easter, death was the one thing of which we were certain.
It was the great threat, the ultimate loss that terrified us.
But now we believe that Jesus can save us from anything, including death.
So Jesus did conquer the world after all, by making us unafraid of it.
When we really believe that Jesus has defeated death,
we are no longer terrified of anything or anyone.
Even when we face a cross, as we have this week,
we can know that as dark as this part of the story may be,
there is still more of the story to come.
Of all human emotions, fear is the one that believers can use the least
as we join Jesus in his evil-conquering ministry.
He allows us to resist terrorism by refusing to be terrorized.
-- Craig Barnes