4.1 Discussion: Love’s Last Breath
Getting Started
After the crucifixion, it appeared to many that day that the world had changed. Jesus was no longer alive on this earth. His ministry and healing had been arrested, put on trial, and found guilty, and he was crucified unto death. Love had taken its last breath. Love was killed and placed in a tomb. The world was colder, more brutal and unwelcoming than ever before. All was lost. Yes, ALL was truly lost. There was nothing more to hope for. There was no promise of spring. There was no promise of something better for our futures.
Love’s last breath had been taken.
Then we learn:
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
John 19:38–42
Knowing what had happened to Jesus, you can’t even cry. It is too much to take in. What if we had just crucified the Messiah? What if we had just crucified our own hope? Love incarnate had been hung on a cross? What did we do?
Upon successful completion of the course material, you will be able to:
· Describe how it would be for you to live in a world without Jesus
· Share a time when you thought all was lost . . . and then something unexpected happened.
Resources
· Bible
Background Information
Once again, go to a place of absolute quiet. Perhaps it will have to be late at night, when the household is asleep. Perhaps it will have to be in the early hours of the morning, before everyone wakes up and the demands of the world start to pull on you from every direction. This is critical: Go to a place of absolute quiet.
Ponder this thought: Jesus, the promise of love, the hope of all existence, is dead. He is in the tomb. He is not coming back and he never will. What then?
True, we know the story doesn’t end there. But it may also be true that we speed through this part because we know the outcome. We race through the part of the story where the world does not
know he is alive. The world really thinks he is dead, dead forevermore.
As you read about the crucifixion—in your absolutely quiet place—let the experience of the death of Jesus sink in fully. What would your life be like? What would your relationships be like? What decisions would you make differently?
What would a world without Jesus look like, feel like, be like?
Instructions
1. Read the devotional on this page, “Love’s Last Breath.”
2. Navigate to the discussion topic and respond to the following:
a. Describe how it would be for you to live in a world without Jesus.
b. Share a time when you thought all was lost, and then something unexpected happened.
3. Your postings should also:
a. Be well developed by providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking.
b. Add greater depth to the discussion by introducing new ideas.
c. Provide clarification to classmates’ questions and insight into the discussion.
