This Observations column published March 22 in the Cherokee Tribune

Observations©

By Donald S. Conkey

Date: March 22, 2012 - # 2013 - Title:  What were the miracles of Holy Week? (751)

Would ancient Jerusalem at the time of Christ have been any different than Woodstock, Canton, or Holly Springs is today? Not likely! It was filled with people as equally divided as we are today in our local communities, each over divisive issues; they over a man named Jesus plus their hated Roman rulers; we today over divisive school issues and protecting our personal freedoms from an ever growing government bureaucracy. People were people then just as people are people today – people - each struggling to make ends meet and to find internal peace for themselves and their families. People being people rumors flew then as they do today – theirs by word of mouth, ours by twitter and other forms of modern technology.

As the rumors spread in Jerusalem, about the coming of their King of Kings, the crowds began to gather on what is known today as Palm Sunday, that first day of a week that would be filled with miracles that would change the world for them in their day and for us today, 2000 years later. Those people were witness to some of those miracles that we today read about in our Bibles. 

Those miracles that occurred during that Holy Week are divided into two groups; those witnessed by many people that have affected the lives of all mankind, then and now, and those recorded in the New Testament but that touched only the life of the recipient – a personal miracle. In addition to seeing the miracles that were performed during that week we are able to see today, through the lenses of time and recorded history, the fulfillment of prophecy, prophesy made by the ancient prophets regarding the coming of Christ; of his life, of his crucifixion, and of his resurrection from the tomb. In addition Christians today also ponder the prophecies that Christ himself made regarding these last days, our days, as we wait for his second coming. The week (Holy Week) that began with the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was truly a week of miracles, and of ancient prophecies coming to pass.

Those miracles that occurred during that ancient Holy Week, miracles that have changed the lives of all mankind include the following: 1. the great intercessory prayer Jesus made in the Garden of Gethsemane , the prayer that caused Christ so much pain that the Father sent an angle to ‘strengthen him,’ the prayer where Christ took upon himself the sins of all those that would follow him and abide his commandments; 2. His death on the Cross where he hung, forgave those that “knew not what they do,” and gave up his life that all who believe on him might live; and 3, the Atonement where he lay in the tomb three days and then rose from that tomb, breaking the bonds of death, prompting the words Christians sing with reverence each Easter Sunday – ‘He is Risen.’

Those miracles he performed for individuals, unseen by the masses but keenly felt by the recipient of the miracle are similar to those miracles that occur in the lives of Christians whose faith in the living Christ is strong enough to defy human understanding. I live today because of such miracles, miracles that have defied worldly wisdom, and technology, just as it has been for Christians worldwide whose prayers have been answered at times when there was no one else to turn to, except Him, He who knelt in the Garden, took upon himself the sins of all who will believe on him and abide his commandments, He who hung on the cross, was laid in a tomb from which He rose, again defying human understanding, to break the bonds of death that all who believe on him might live, and then, following a short sojourn in mortality, follow him back into the presence of his Father, and our Father, Elohim.

            Like doubting Thomas’s, many find the miracles of Holy Week an incredible story, even unbelievable, but yet for untold tens of millions of believing Christians these miracles ring true, and bring solace and comfort to their souls, and provide hope and comfort when the burdens of mortality weight heavy upon their souls.

            How fortunate Americans have been to have been reared in a nation whose cultural foundation was established on the firm belief of the Founding Fathers that those miracles did indeed happen during Holy Week anciently, and that such beliefs have become the hallmark of America’s success and prosperity for over 225 years.