Hero of Heroes

I stood on the porch and clapped. Our nearest neighbour is a quarter mile away. My clapping was hollow and unheard. Or was it?

The Butterfly Effect says that when a butterfly flaps her wings in New Mexico, a hurricane happens in China. Or in this case, a miniscule virus infecting someone in China causes a global pandemic.

I clapped to show my gratitude for the thousands of frontline workers who are risking everything moment by moment. I clapped to join the chorus of clapping, bagpiping, bell-ringing, and shouting rising right across the nation as a thank-you to these heroes.  

Then I came in to pray. Whatever this night holds, Jesus is in it with us.

Today we remembered the night when he was betrayed by his friend, and then abandoned by the rest of his friends as the ruling powers took him into custody. Tomorrow we will remember his lonely walk to Calvary, the agony of his crucifixion and the depth of his separation from the Father. True isolation.

He hung there alone. He might have been tempted to think that his sacrifice was a fruitless gesture which wouldn’t make any difference. But if he was tempted, he didn’t yield to it. He hung there hour after hour, and then he died.

With his death, and even more so with his resurrection, he changed the world. I am so grateful that he didn’t think one man dying on a cross wouldn’t make any difference. He knew the truth.

The truth that he is the way, the truth, and the life. He made a way for us because he is the way.

I’ll maybe go back out on the porch, and clap again. For the hero of heroes. The king of kings. Jesus.