Fables and Faith : Six words that changed the world
Posted on Monday, March 24, 2008
I've always been a fan of "word pictures. "My daughter Sherry often made up words that didn't exist but expressed what she wanted to say.
For example: Cigarettes became sig sucks … (That's when I decided I should quit ). On the other hand, daughter Sara combined words to give them a different meaning. The one I remember best was her talking about "the ready chair. "That's the place we all put our coats and gloves, etc. as we were getting ready to leave the house and go somewhere.
In the Bible, there are thousands of word pictures that can come to mind. However, at Easter, six words stick out in my mind as being the most poignant. They come from the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel of Mark.
They speak of what "the young man, dressed in a white robe"said to Mary Magdalene and Mary, the Mother of James and Salome as they approached the tomb where Jesus was to have been laid.
The "angel"said: "Fear Not; Come See; Go Tell. "Six words that struck to the heart of all future Christian believers with such force, they come rushing to the depths of my soul. They contained all I really needed to know in order to be a Christian … that Christ died and rose from the dead … in atonement of my sins.
"Fear Not "because the angel was not there to harm them. He was sent there to proclaim that Christ was the true Son of God. The person they sought was not there. He had risen. No matter what happens we can be certain that God loved us so much that he died for us and His resurrection will forever mean "Fear Not. "We all have known people who were living examples of that phrase as they lived with pain and sorrow yet still smiled and laughed and loved.
The angel then said," Come See. "As they walked into the tomb, they saw that it was true. The burial linens were there but Christ had risen. The angel told them that Jesus had gone on before them to Galilee.
When we total the accounts of those who saw the Christ following his resurrection, they total nearly 500.
Finally, the angel said," Go Tell. "Knowing that Christ died for us is simply not enough. We must tell others and we must do so on a regular basis. Paul in First Corinthians reminds us that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.
Six words that changed the world forever. When we combine those words with the knowledge that Christ really did die for our sins, we can truly understand the awesome impact of "Fear Not; Come See; Go Tell."
At the Tenebrae Service at our church last Thursday, Randall Johnson certainly painted a painful picture of the dramatic result of individual sin as he sang the mournful song of the Roman soldier who reflected on the fact that it was he who held the hammer that nailed Jesus on the Cross. He lamented about "his sin. "It was most powerful. I was reminded of another song heard long ago sung by Dennis Jernigan called "It Was My Sin. "Those words also have lingered in my memory bank for years. "It was my sin that nailed Him there; it was my cross he had to bear. It was His blood that washed me clean. It was the greatest love this world has seen. He died for me, He washed me clean, I am redeemed, Worship the King. "He is Risen. Shalom !
• • • Bob Haynes'column appears on Mondays.
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