Happy Easter, my family and friends! "He is not here, for He is risen!"
My blogpost from last year included a piece of art I created and can be found here.
This year, we had a simple Easter. We watched Music and the Spoken Word this morning and then I went to choir practice before church. After church, we went to my parents' for dinner. When we got home, we went for a walk. It was simple, but sweet.
Yesterday we were able to visit the free He is Risen exhibit in Pleasant Grove, Utah. I have included a few pictures I took and I wanted to talk about my experience there. As we walked slowly through the line and spent time at each part of the exhibit, I was able to ponder and think about the scriptures they had posted, as well as of the physical aspects of the sacrifice that Jesus experienced.
The cross was much smaller than I anticipated. I expect that is because of the fact that I have never before encountered a cross, but somehow this surprise made the sacrifice that much more real.
I hope you had a beautiful Easter with your family and loved ones. I hope that taking the time to remember the last week of Jesus' mortal ministry with me has been as uplifting for you as it has been for me.
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| The Cross |
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| The Sign on Jesus' Cross |
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| Plaque for the Sign on the Cross |
Every portion of the exhibit had a plaque filled with information about the portion of the exhibit. It was really interesting to see exactly how the sign would have looked with the different languages saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews".
I didn't take a picture of the scourge whip that was shown, but I thought it was interesting that the plaque said that, because of how historically accurate its creation was, it is considered a real scourge whip. The whip ends were covered with bits of metal, bone, and "sheep's knuckles". The metal bits were meant to bring the blood to the surface (probably creating bruises), and the bones and sheep's knuckles were then meant to cut the flesh and cause terrible bleeding and pain. Often, the prisoners would be wrapped in burlap afterwards to staunch the bleeding and keep them alive to suffer longer.
Just like how I thought the cross seemed smaller than I anticipated, so, too, did the tomb cause this same feeling. It was much smaller than I anticipated.
As I passed by the tomb opening and peeked in, I was filled with quite a few emotions. Awe, gratitude, love, hope. In seeing the empty tomb, with the cloths He had been wrapped in folded and laying on the bench, I believe I felt as Mary Magdalene did when she went to visit the tomb and expected Jesus to be there, but found an empty tomb. While I did not experience exactly what she did when He said her name, I expect hearing Him say her name filled her whole soul with gratitude, love, and relief, just like seeing that empty tomb also filled my whole soul with gratitude, love, and relief. And just like how I know when He says my name my whole soul will be filled with gratitude, love, and relief.
I hope you had a beautiful Easter with your family and loved ones. I hope that taking the time to remember the last week of Jesus' mortal ministry with me has been as uplifting for you as it has been for me.
Xoxo
Mattie
