Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV.

As we read our chapter, Mark 15, we come again to that inevitable place sins portend. This time as I read this chapter, I thought about the vantage point of seeing this planet and the vastness of space as Earth receded and grew smaller and smaller. Was it cold, still – quiet – as our Creator God of all creation gave up His life for us? Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate. “Are You the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. The chief priests accused Him of many things. So again Pilate asked Him, “Aren’t You going to answer? See how many things they are accusing You of.” But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. v. 1-5. It was for this time that Jesus, the Son, came. Look what He did for us and for the very people surrounding Him. Then Pilate asks the crowd before him, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” v. 9. They asked for Barabbas instead. “What shall I do, then, with the One you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. “Crucify him!” they shouted. “Why? What crime has He committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!” Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified. v. 12-15. The soldiers led Jesus away to be mocked by them; weakened by flogging, to endure the walk to His place of crucifixion. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it. And they crucified Him. Dividing up His clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get (Psalm 22:18). It was nine in the morning when they crucified Him. The written notice of the charge against Him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS…At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?)…With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last. The curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how He died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”…It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that He was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph brought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where He was laid. v. 22-26, 33-34, 37-39, 42-47.

How do we walk by faith when surrounded as we are by darkness? We stop trusting our own sight. Trusting our own sight, we can’t see. The crowds at Jesus’ feet at the foot of the cross, saw darkness only. Seeing darkness only, they could say, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save Yourself!”…”He saved others but He can’t save Himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” v. 29, 31-32. And again, I can’t help but see from the perspective of lifted far above Earth to see this incredibly beautiful planet Creator God created. He knew what would be. He created still. Every one of those people involved in the events of that day and every day before and every day since are loved by Creator God. For we walk by faith, not by sight…and…Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise…to give thanks to Him and praise His name…For the Lord is Good! And His love endures forever…His faithfulness continues through all generations!!!