what i believe: sunday will come

7 ^aAnd brought the colt, and put on it their clothes; and Jesus took the colt and sat thereon; and they followed him.

8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, ^aHosanna to the Son of David: ^bBlessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

11 And the ^amultitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

(Matthew 21: 7-11)

(triumphal entry)

And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into ^atemptation.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, ^aremove this cup from me: nevertheless not my ^bwill, but thine, be done.

And there appeared an ^aangel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in an ^aagony he prayed more earnestly: ^band his sweat was as it were great drops of ^cblood falling down to the ground.
(Luke 22: 40-44)

(gethsemane)

¶ Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his ^amother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of ^bCleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the ^adisciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, ^bWoman, behold thy son!

Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy ^amother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
(John 19: 25-27)

Then ^asaid Jesus, Father, ^bforgive them; for they know not what ^cthey do. And they parted his ^draiment, and cast lots.
(Luke 23: 34)

And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of ^aa skull,

¶ They gave him ^avinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

And they ^acrucified him, and ^bparted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my ^cgarments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

And sitting down they watched him there;

And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.

¶ And they that passed by ^areviled him, wagging their heads,

And saying, Thou that destroyest the ^atemple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the ^bSon of God, come down from the cross.

Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,

He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

He ^atrusted in God; let him ^bdeliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the ^cSon of God.

The thieves also, which were crucified with him, ^acast the same in his teeth.

Now from the sixth hour there was ^adarkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, ^aMy God, my God, why hast thou ^bforsaken me?

Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for ^aElias.

And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with ^avinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

¶ Jesus, when he had cried again with ^aa loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

And, behold, the ^aveil of the temple was ^brent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did ^cquake, and the rocks rent;
(Matthew 27: 32-51)

(it is finished)

The ^afirst day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet ^bdark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the ^cstone taken away from the ^dsepulchre.

Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other ^adisciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the ^bLord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.

So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.

And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.

Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,

And the ^anapkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
(John 20: 1-7)

(hope)

¶ But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,

And seeth two ^aangels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and ^asaw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, ^aMaster.

Jesus saith unto her, ^aTouch me not; for I am not yet ^bascended to my ^cFather: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my ^dFather, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
(John 20: 11-18)

(why weepest thou)

"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.

"Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day those men stood triumphant.

"On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain.

"Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were both overcome with grief and despair. The superb man they had loved and honored hung lifeless upon the cross.

"On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.

"On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled. It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.

"I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.

"But the doom of that day did not endure.

"The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.

"And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

"But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

"No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, in this life or the next, Sunday will come."

(Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Sunday Will Come" October 2006)

“He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. …

“… He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:4–5).

all art by liz lemon swindle