4-9-18<\/p>\n
Three men meet by a well in a Jerusalem square. Around them, women draw water, men walk their sheep to market, people haggle at the market stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear? More news about the Nazarene. First he came into the city and everyone praised Him. A week later, everybody wanted His blood…\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they got it!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, they buried what was left of His poor body. And now I hear…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all hearing about it! They say He rose from the dead!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did! I saw Him! I heard Him preach yesterday in the hills!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw Him too, walking past the temple. There were crowds of people following Him! More than when he was just a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy neighbors went to listen to Him preach. They say He looks like He used to\u2026 but more handsome, almost serene\u2026 except for the nail-scars in His wrists…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just like it used to be. He\u2019s preaching and teaching and healing and talking to people one-on-one too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think? He never really died?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be crazy. He could have faked death? What about the whip-marks and the spear-thrust and the crown of thorns and all the pokes and scratches and…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight. His body looks perfect. Jospehus, the Jewish historian, saw Him and said the Nazarene came back to life just like He predicted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another man, who had been listening, joined the conversation. \u201cIt was not only Jesus\u2019 prediction, friends; it is just like the Prophets foretold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes\u2026 He is reminding us of those Scriptures. Daniel. Isaiah. It is hard to count all the things that are happening just as the Holy Books said they would.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat now? Will He live forever? He speaks to multitudes; He visits the sick; He puts His arm around widows and the persecuted; He teaches and preaches; then nobody sees Him for a while\u2026 Does He sleep? Where does He go\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n
The stranger spoke up again. \u201cNo. He won\u2019t walk these streets like this forever, like the man we remember. Remember, He told us, \u2018It is better that I leave, for if I do not, the Helper and Comforter will not come to you. But when I go, I will send Him to Believers.\u2019 That was also His prophesy…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut why stay here for a time?\u201d one of the men asked.<\/p>\n
The stranger said, \u201cTo bear witness to the Jews who demanded His death, and to be seen by the Romans who killed Him, to show His resurrected body even to His followers like Thomas, who doubted. To inspire accounts even among the heathen and those like Josephus\u2026 To silence the skeptics.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cOK,\u201d wondered one of the men, \u201cBut I wonder where He disappears to at times\u2026 where is He when the crowds go home, when He is not seen praying with a few or healing one by the gate…\u201d<\/p>\n
The stranger spoke up again. \u201cHe has proven Himself the Son of the Living God, and who Himself lives, having conquered death and hell\u2026 so I am not being disrespectful, or trying to put my thoughts on His actions…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d the others asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be that, in His own way, Jesus is rehearsing for Eternity. Because just like He did in His ministry here, and just as He promised about the Holy Ghost to come\u2026 God walks the dark hills.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 the ways, the by-ways. He walks through the billows of life\u2019s troubled sea. He walks through the cold dark night, the shadows of midnight. God walks the dark hills\u2026 Just to guide you and me.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod walks the dark hills, to guide our footsteps. He walks everywhere, by night and by day. He walks in the silence, on down the highway\u2026 God walks the dark hills\u2026 to show us the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod walks in the storm, the rain, and the sunshine. He walks in the shadows, or through glimmering light. Helps us walk up the mountains so high, cross rivers, through valleys\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cGod walks the dark hills\u2026 \u2018cause He loves you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The men were silent for more than a moment. The hustle of the neighborhood\u2019s activity continued on its way, however. When they looked up, the stranger was gone, but they looked at each other and agreed that their day\u2019s business could wait. They wanted to find this risen Lord\u2026 to listen to Him more carefully\u2026 to remember the things He preached. <\/p>\n
And somehow in their minds they knew that if they lost their way in life, if they strayed from the Truth\u2026 Jesus would would be walking the dark hills that sometimes surround us\u2026 and find them. We want to \u2013 we need to \u2013 look for Him. But, no worries, He is willing to walk the dark hills to find us where we are.<\/p>\n
\u2018Cause He loves you and me.<\/p>\n
+ + +<\/p>\n
This haunting Gospel song was written by a woman in Oklahoma about whom little is known; and who, evidently, never wrote another song again. A gift…<\/p>\n