The Day that True Love Died

The President vetoed a bill that would have banned the interrogation technique known as "water boarding" this afternoon much to the chagrin of many people, including myself. I do understand why he did it and I understand that some of these things should not be put out publicly because of the enemy monitoring what we will do and won't do. Yet, it makes me sad to think about how this technique would even be necessary. That we would find men who would be so depraved that the only way we can break through them is to do something that borders torture. War requires these things sometimes but it is so devastating to really picture or comprehend.

I was listening to Phil Wickham's absolutely amazing CD "Cannons" today and one frame really stuck out to me.

"The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the Fathers broken heart
tears were filling heaven's eyes
The day that true love died, the day that true love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that true love died, The day that true love died"

It seems all over the world we hear horrendous stories of blood and water continuing to hit the ground. I read a story today of two lesbian's who murdered their roommate just because she was annoying. I fought back tears looking through the pictures of the Jerusalem shooting; seeing all of the blood spilled on the ground, on the tables, on the Torah. They are pursuing the death penalty for the person responsible for the Auburn University slaying. The NIU and V-Tech killings still ring in my head. They just found a mass grave in Iraq. South America is on the brink of war. The earth is shaking in the dark.

I then started to think of these next few weeks as we head up to Easter. The most misunderstood holiday of the bunch. The world was just as it is now. There were wars, political infighting, hatred, barbarianism, and torture. We debate if torture is or should be a American policy but we are about to celebrate Good Friday, which exalts the torture of a man that makes water boarding look like a bubble bath.

What amazes me about Holy Week is that without Sunday, Friday would have been just another story. Another headline. Another example of blood and water hitting the ground. Another example of how desperately we need to find a solution. How we need an answer! That Friday, much blood and water hit the ground but unlike other instances of it; something happened. Creation shook, curtains ripped, and walls that had been put up that no man could move came crashing down. Sunday was coming, the day that true love died.

Come close, listen to the story. The story that starts out like every other news ticker but ends with a reversal. That Sunday there was an answer to the innocent blood that was spilled. Like Cain, God made clear to us that He is aware of the innocent blood crying out from the earth. God's answer rang loud when the Son of God first put His pierced feet back on the earth. The answer and the hope for those who believe goes back to that initial footstep. No longer do we have to look at these news tickers without hope. No longer do we have to fear if we are going to find our way into the news. Christ's resurrection showed us that for those who follow after Him, no matter what may happen here, we will some day shake off the chains of death and walk freely made alive and anew. There no longer isn't an answer. There no longer isn't a hope. We may still exist in the world that continues to tremble in the dark but that world has been pierced by the everlasting light. The day that true love died we were made alive because His blood and water hit the ground. Now we know that no innocent blood ever goes unanswered.