The deadline

If you are reading this column, you may already be too late.

It is not a national holiday, but the date is easily recognizable by nearly anyone in the United States. April 15 is notorious for being the yearly deadline for filing your income tax for the year. If the government owes you money, typically you will have already filed and spent the money that was refunded to you. If you owe the government money, you should probably quit reading this column and get busy filling out your income taxes, go ahead and write that check, and get it in the mail. Whatever your position is, most of us start watching for the W2 forms to come in the mail around the first of the year and are aware as the April 15 deadline approaches. Each of us has mixed emotions as that draws closer.

It has been said that there are only two sure things in life … death and taxes. While thinking about how the deadline for taxes to be filed is approaching, my thoughts turned to another deadline as well. We are just over a week away from celebrating Easter. Easter is when we take time to celebrate the resurrection. You cannot have the resurrection though without first acknowledging the crucifixion. Our Heavenly Father came to earth in the form of a man and walked among us. I took some time in my devotions to think about what might have been going through the mind of Christ as His time here on earth was reaching the deadline.

By this time, we can be sure that he knew the horrible things he was going to endure. People who were shouting praises to him now in just over a week would be shouting “Crucify Him.” I wonder if he knew which ones were going to turn on him. As time was drawing closer, we know he began to get nervous about going through with it. (“If there is any way this cup can pass from me … nevertheless yours will be done.”)

I wonder what his thought process was that helped him to go ahead and go through with it. Was he looking ahead in time and thinking about us? (“Dennis is really going to need me to do this.”) His disciples barely grasped exactly what was going on and were probably expecting him to establish an earthly kingdom.

Would he have been disappointed with them? The shadow of the cross would have loomed over everything he was saying and doing by now. I think the saddest thing about his time here on earth is that his own people were the ones who brought him the most aggravation.

The “religious” people confronted him, challenged him, and eventually demanded his crucifixion. I wonder if he found a way to draw courage from knowing that the church would continue to grow in spite of those people within it who push others away.

It is likely that there will be people in worship services with us this Easter who rarely, if ever, attend services any other time. Let us all live this coming week before Easter under the shadow of the cross, and remember to show love and acceptance to those people who join us for those worship services.

Dennis McFarland is the pastor of the Plumwood Church of Christ in Christian Union, 175 Arthur Bradley Road. He can be reached at (740) 857-1714 or by e-mail at: plumwoodpastor@yahoo.com