“Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.”  (The Gospel According to Mark)  These were the words that Jesus prayed on the night that he spent in the Garden of Gethsemane—a real place on a hill right outside of Jerusalem. This night of prayer was right before that fateful Friday morning on which one of his closest friends (Judas) betrayed him and the trials began that led to his death as a criminal- hanging on a cross.

Jesus made his hopes known in his prayers. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to go through the future 24 hours that seemed certain.  So, why would God “will” Jesus’ death?  How could Jesus’ death be something that God could want?  I believe that God didn’t want it and that God didn’t will it either.  I believe that what God did want is what God still wants—for the redeeming power of Love to be known in the world.  And I believe that God is hoping to address all of our reasons for not believing that Love is that powerful.

I can think of nothing in all of creation that seems final, except death.  Surely death could get rid of Jesus.  Yet in Jesus’ resurrection we see that the Living God has the last word- not death.  That Love can overcome all things- even hate and violence.  Does it seem unbelievable?

For some it is still unbelievable.  For 2000 years, no one has been able to locate the remains of Jesus.  People all over the world, beginning on that first Sunday morning, have looked to prove that his resurrection is false.  And the harder it was to prove, the harder people tried.  For his first followers, they came to know of Jesus’ resurrection and attempted to describe it. The Apostle Paul, the writers of Matthew, Luke and John– each have worked to put it into words.  And their words and witness have helped people even in our day-and-age know his resurrection to be true, and thus the power of Love.

I don’t know that we could have known that the Living God has the last word (which is Love) if Jesus hadn’t died.