Jesus is Alive!

This last week was a reminder of why being here this year is a good thing. Palm Sunday was definitely one of the coolest things I have done in my entire life. Singing and celebrating Jesus with 10,000 (give or take) believers was absolutely incredible. It wasnt like being in a big theatre singing along with a talented worship leader either (which would be fun). It was spontaneous and it was celebrating Christ coming into Jerusalem basically on the same path that he took. Plus it was dozens of different languages all lifting up at the same time. I couldn't imagine much better aside from heaven itself. Just awesome.

Easter also was incredible - You just dont need a big program when you are in this city - it speaks for itself. Like Ryan said, we went to the Garden tomb for our Easter service this year. The Garden tomb is directly across the street from the Damascus gate, which is the where the Arab market and Muslim quarter of the Old City is located. This is also the site of a stabbing of a rabbi just days before (he was not killed). It is hard to express the range of emotion that Jerusalem evokes in me. But Easter morning I walked past the Arab vendors and the reminders of the endless conflict, and turned the corner toward the Garden Tomb. We were a bit late and I could hear rising up out of the walled garden courtyard, hundreds of voices singing the hymn "Jesus is Alive!" I immediately began crying (my hankie toting mother would be proud) as I thought YES! Jesus is Alive! He did come to Jerusalem and he is still here and he is alive and well! Somehow in the midst of this broken and hurting city Jesus is Alive. Somehow despite the struggle that this world is immersed in, Jesus is Alive! Yes I hurt for those who are struggling. I am saddened by world and church politics, by the state of the environment, by poverty and by war. I hurt for my dear friends who have lost loved ones, who are struggling with cancer, who have children who are sick... But on Easter I am reminded that Jesus is Alive!! God Almighty is Alive and Well. He loves us with a fierce and Living Love. He has overcome death and he gives hope and he gives light in the midst of so much darkness. Easter is a good reminder for me. And celebrating Him here in this place was more meaningful than I ever could have imagined. And not just because it is Jerusalem where he died and rose again. But because this year I have become more aware of the worlds, and my own brokenness and our need for a living Savior. This year in Jerusalem has brought me low and yet Christ is all the more lifted up. I am happy to shout with all those in the garden that Jesus is Alive!