5-3-21<\/p>\n
There is something about the life of Jesus that especially attracts my interest, partly because the church at large \u2013 indeed, the world \u2013 has neglected. It is, specifically, the life of Jesus after<\/em> he rose from death. His life after Resurrection. He lives today, of course; but I mean the 40 days that the Bible records (as did many witnesses and contemporary writers like the Jewish historian Josephus) when the Savior walked and talked and preached and healed and was was seen by multitudes.<\/p>\n We have very few records of that, compared to the details of His ministry and the events of Holy Week. That is what is intriguing to me, and why I keep returning to it. Further, Ascension Day, at the end of those 40 post-Easter days, when Jesus rose bodily to Heaven, finally affirmed His Divinity. Once a major day on the church calendar, it is observed far less today.<\/p>\n The last verse of the last Gospel\u2019s last chapter (John 21:25) tells us, Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written<\/em>.<\/p>\n Let us imagine Palestine in those days, similarly mysterious because we have been told so little. For 40 days Jesus showed the world that He lived again. The Sanhedrin had called Jesus a blasphemer, and others claimed His miracles were of the devil\u2026 but His 40 days in Jerusalem and surrounding areas, being seen by multitudes, was scarcely disputed at the time and afterward. A few generations later, the writer Eusebius interviewed many people who had known people who saw Jesus during these days, told of miracles, even cited sermons and letters of the risen Jesus.<\/p>\n In other words, some people might not have joined the Christ-followers \u2013 although believers multiplied rapidly, even in the face of persecution soon thereafter \u2013 but very few people disputed that He rose from the dead. They certainly were active days.<\/p>\n Yet as busy as He must have been, I have a picture in my mind of Jesus alone, also; maybe when darkness fell, down lonely paths, maybe through storms and cold silences, walking the dark hills, not always responding to the curious crowds, but sometimes seeking out the troubled and the hurting individuals.<\/p>\n This is a plausible picture, because Jesus still does this today.<\/p>\n It was in His nature: Remember the \u201cninety and nine,\u201d and the one lost sheep the shepherd sought. Remember Christ\u2019s words, \u201cBehold, I stand at the door and knock\u201d\u2026 and how often do we think of how patiently He waits and knocks and waits and knocks? Remember His story of the father rejoicing over the prodigal son who repents and returns and is restored. Remember His admonition to be \u201cfishers of men.\u201d Remember Him weeping over Jerusalem. Remember the promise that \u201cWhosoever\u201d believes should not perish but have eternal life.<\/p>\n He walks the dark hills, looking for us \u2013 piercing the gloom with a joyful hope that may be ours. He seeks us<\/em> out.<\/p>\n And, continuing to reconstruct an image of what Jerusalem and surrounding areas must have been like those 40 days, abuzz with talk of the Miracle Man, let us also remember that we don\u2019t have to respond to a shout from the street \u2013 \u201cCome! They say that Jesus is down by the river! Let\u2019s see Him!\u201d No\u2026 He will come to us.<\/p>\n And it is especially the case, I believe, if you are one of those people who is skeptical, or has \u201cheard enough,\u201d or cannot crack the shell of hurt or pain or resentment or rebellion or fear, or all the other hindrances that prevent you from experiencing the love of Christ. Know this, He is closer than a shadow, no matter what you think, or what you might prefer to believe. He will not leave you, even though you ignore Him.<\/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; God walks the dark hills, To show us the way.\u201d<\/p>\n The risen Savior, Lord of Creation, walks the dark hills, seeking out\u2026 me? and you? where we are? in our hurts, in our messes? That\u2019s the real miracle of the Miracle Man, to me, still \u2013- that He loves you and me. Looking for us; finding us; hugging us; loving us; healing us; teaching us; saving us.<\/p>\n Those 40 days were a practice run for eternity \u2013 His and ours.<\/p>\n + + +<\/p>\n A favorite gospel song is the haunting \u201cGod Walks the Dark Hills,\u201d embodying mystery even in its own origin. It was written by a lady named Audra Czarnikow, who lived in Liberty, OK. Little is known about her; she apparently wrote no other hymns or songs. Small groups sang her song, and others recorded it; eventually it became a signature song of the Happy Goodman Family; here it is sung by the appropriately haunting voice of Iris DeMent.<\/p>\n + + +<\/p>\n Please listen to this message\u2019s reflection in this song and video:<\/p>\n