The Ultimate Triumph

            Thump. Thump. Thump. My head had been throbbing for days. My eyes were puffy from the tears I had shed.

            It was the third day since the death of the Teacher. I vainly tried to ignore the whispers of the other women in the market around me.

            “I knew that we shouldn’t trust Him from the time I first laid eyes on Him,” they sneered. “There was just something suspicious about His behavior. Can a man really do something for nothing in return? Who was He to claim that He was God’s Son?”

            I quickly grabbed the figs I had been looking over and walked away. I couldn’t listen to the things they were saying. What about all the miracles He performed? Surely they could not all be deceptions.

            And why would a man be willing to die for a lie? If He was not the Son of God, why would He endure the humiliation and torture that led to His slow, painful death?

            I shuffled towards home, another tear sliding down my cheek. I quickly brushed it away, and kept my head down to hide my face from the crowd.

            “Here He comes!” someone shouted. I heard gasps and running feet. “Jesus is alive!”

            Quickly I lifted my head and looked towards the direction people were running. I could see lots of heads, but I couldn’t see Jesus.

            I gathered up the folds of my robe and broke into a run. I had to see! Could it be…?

            When I reached the city gate, I could go no further. The crowd was so dense with bodies weaving, necks craning, eyes straining to see. Dejected, I turned, trying to find another way around to see Him.

            But as I turned, there He was, standing right in front of me! His face was radiant and shining. All His wounds were healed, except for the wounds from the nails.

            He looked at me and smiled. “My daughter,” He said. My knees buckled under me, and my tears flowed forth.

            “Jesus! Hosanna!” was all I could manage to whisper through my tears.

            “My beloved child,” He said as He knelt down and lifted my face in His hands. “I did this for you. My Father sent me to atone for your sins. Through my resurrection, you can now have eternal life with Me.”

            “I am going to prepare a place for you, and all others who know Me. Tell others what I did for them. Tell them I died for them, and I want to spend eternity with them. Tell them that I love them!”

“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.” Luke 24:50-53