love (final part)

~"I LOVE YOU!" it all happened in a moment. the Father shouted to His Son, and His Son shouted back. angels attended to the Son and the earth rejoiced in all that it could. the tomb burst forth with the intense and growing light and love streaming from the man inside. the soldiers outside were terrified and in awe, astounded by the immense stone moving on its own, forced aside by the blinding radiance flowing from behind it. He got up and walked. He who was dead but is now alive. He who was destroyed but was again made whole. He who is love. The Father reached down and brought life back to His Son, and rejoiced.

Tears streamed forth, but this time they were not tears of pain and sadness, but joy. immense joy. joy so strong that nothing else mattered. so strong that nothing could contain it, and all thoughts and actions of restraint and normalcy would be lost. and He stepped out of the tomb. love permeated from Him and affected all it touched. the air was sweeter, the sky brighter, the birds sang sweeter, the flowers lovelier. somewhere the lion was laying down with the lamb in peace. all creation rejoiced at the reappearance of its Creator. and He walked. He lives. He loves. and nothing, not even death can stop it. not now, not ever, but it will be love and life now and forever, for all. "I love You Father!" the Son cries out. He looked around and sees the earth, the men who fainted in terror. in His mind he sees the kingdoms great and small, the people from the greatest to the least. "these are My people, and I love them. I love them, and they are mine! They are mine and I love them! they are beautiful Father, thank You for them. I will not lose those that I love, and I love them all!" then He addressed the world, "I LOVE YOU!"~

you return from the market to the house where you have been staying. you agreed to go into the city and buy food for the people who were still there, wondering when you yourself would leave. so much had happened the past few days, and you understood very little of it.

you had awaken to tremors that shook the house. "the earth still crying out," you thought. but something was different. the air was sweeter, the sky brighter, the birds songs happier, the flowers even looked lovelier. it seemed more joyous than sad, more at peace. you even imagined somewhere in all this a lion laying down with a lamb, and you laughed at yourself.

laughed. the first bit of joy you've felt the past two days. maybe it was the world around you making you feel happier, or maybe you were starting to recover, which you did not know, and the happiness you did not understand, but there was something there. with this better disposition you agreed to take some money and buy the food, the food that you now brought back for the evening meal.

outside the door stand a few of the people staying at the house, animated if not excited about something. hoping for good news you rush to the door to see what is happening. "what's going on?" you ask. "it's empty! the tomb is empty! someone stole His body." one of the men replies angrily. "but what about mary, and peter and john?" says the another. "mary says she saw Him, saw Him alive! walking, talking with her, to her." "and peter and john said that the angels said He was alive." says a third man. "i don't know what to believe," says the first. "after what we saw, how could anyone be alive?"

having had enough of their arguements you rush inside dropping the food on a table then search for mary or john. but you can't find either of them, not even peter. "where are mary, peter, and john?" you ask a woman you see enter from another door. "they left, said something about telling the rest of Jesus' disciples that He's alive. see, i knew He couldn't die! God can't die!"

if you thought it was confusing before, you found a whole new level. extreme confusion mixed with impatience and a touch of madness wanting to know if He was really alive, or just a cruel trick. sad and depressed thoughts crept into your mind like cold black fingers, telling you that it was just a cruel trick, a lie to bring out all His followers to arrest them as well. that everything was a lie, a hoax, even the thoughts that had invaded your mind when you looked into the eyes of Jesus.

the eyes of Jesus. that had been real, it had been real! those dead black fingers tried to tighten their grip but it was too late. you shook the thoughts out of your mind, and you desperately wanted it to be true, that He was alive, and walk, and that He really did love you.

people started to filter into the house and a few took the food you brought and began to prepare it. conversations abounded about what was true and what wasn't. some said Jesus had prophesied all this, but confusion and excitment still filled the room. many people were there now, even mary and john, and peter, you catch a glimpse of him headed to an upstairs room, obviously excited, a light practily shining from his face. you try to get to mary and john, but people have crowded so tightly around them that you can't get in to see or hear. you give up and recline to a seat at the table, trying to be patient for your turn.

soon the food came was was passed around, and it was good. something about the food even tasted better, like the first time you had ever eaten it, even though you knew you had eaten this food before. the candles were now lit as the sky began to give way to evening. you lean back and take a drink, closing your eyes to enjoy this moment of happiness. "i love you." your eyes snap open and your cup falls from your hand spilling all over the floor. you know that voice, you've heard that voice, that voice that says, "i love you." and the voice that means it. did you just hear it, or was it really said?

at a glance you see that no one is talking, but staring to the side. you turn and remember that the door was locked and you don't remember hearing that someone came in. then you see Him, standing there, standing . . . there! He looked nothing like the bloodied destroyed man from the cross, but healthy, fully alive and well. "don't be afraid," He says. "it is Me, I'm alive, come see."

you want to burst from your chair and wrap your arms around Him, to hug Him and be hugged in return, to feel that love again. but you can't. you are frozen in awe. could this really be? a few people run to Him, hug Him, are hugged by Him. a reunion. not a reunion like what you've been to welcoming friends who had been gone for a while. Jesus had only been gone for what, three days? that's not long at all, but He was more than gone, He was dead, and dead was forever. but He was here! He was not dead! He was standing there, the man who had seen into your soul, your dirty filthy soul and said, "I love you." finally you get up and walk over to Him, slowly, not sure what to expect. He never officially met you, not in your reality anyway.

He turns and sees you coming. tears and love are flowing from His eyes, and He calls you by your name. "come here," He says to you, buy with your name. He knows your name! this is real! you can't take it any more and you throw yourself at Him, collapsing and pile of slobbering tears as you reach Him. the most joyous laughter reaches your ears, laughter too beautiful even for angels to make, and strong hands reach under your shoulders and lifts you up. face to face you see Him now, see the best you can from the cascade of tears you are crying. and through your tears you see He is crying, and a small laugh comes through you. then a bigger laugh, though you don't know why you are laughing. He laughs back, that amazing beautiful laugh. laughter spreads throughout the room and joy, pure joy flows through and fills the room, threatening to burst the walls from the house.

you see Him reach out to you, wanting to hug you. you see the holes where the nails were and hesitate. He laughs again, "don't worry, they don't hurt anymore. there is no pain anymore, only joy and happiness. I love you." you reach out and hug Him in return. every horrible thought, feeling and fear, every bad thing you have ever known or felt it gone, vanished in the touch and loving embrace of this Man, this Man who is more than a Man, who was dead, but now is alive, is alive! you feel your whole body shaking with excitement. you had been looking for a party or some kind of entertainment when you first came to Jerusulem, but you found something so much more, so much better, rather it found you, and you don't care! it's amazing, it's amazing, it's LOVE!

Jesus leans back and wipes the tears from your face, though more tears fell in their place. "i love you," He says again to you. then He turns to the group. "I love you!" He says. "and nothing can stop that love. do you love Me?" a few unjointed "yes's" come from the group. "do you love Me?" He asks again. more yes's mixed with "i love you's" and crying. "do you love Me?!" He cries out. the crowd erupts in joy and song, all saying in their own way how much they love Him. "I love you," He says again. "and nothing can stop that love. don't you see? not even death can stop Me from loving you. I have beaten death, and My love is stronger, and you know My love. I have beaten all this is evil! none of it can stop My love for you. you are Mine, and I will always love you!"

still crying and laughing you drink in each word that Jesus says. you never want to forget any of the words or this feeling. there is no fear, no confusion, no guilt anymore. none of it matters, it is gone. for all there is, all you can think about, all you can look to is Jesus. He did it, He did something that made it all go away. you are not sure how, but you don't care because it's done, and He loves you. this love, the love He said that could not be stopped, not by you, not by someone else, not by fear or sadness, not by hatred or even the greatest evil out there. this love. the love flowing from Jesus, this love. this love. this love.