Sometimes I just...don't realize how lucky I am.

When I was in Elementary School one of my favorite days of the week was called "lucky dot day." Lucky Dot day was after you dumped your leftover food at lunch if there was a dot on the bottom of your tray you got a prize. The one time I got a dot was so cool, I got to go get ice-cream!!! With any toppings I wanted to have on it.

Before you go any further into my blog I want to warn you this blog today is kind of gruesome so just be aware.

Last friday was a very serious day for many believers. It was the day Jesus died. In preparing for Easter last sunday I went back and re-read the accounts leading up to Jesus' death. First Jesus was betrayed by one of his close friends for money, then he got taken before a crowd of people to have a chance to be set free, but they chose a criminal over him.

Then he was flogged he was sentenced to 39 lashes, the most jewish law would allow. The only thing is the whip they used for these lashes was not an ordinary whip.  It had pieces of bone and metal and other sharp fragments in it so when it hit their skin it would rip their flesh.

After this he was handed over to the soldiers who mocked and beat him even more. They acknowledged he was a king they even gave him a crown. The only thing was this was not a normal crown of gold and jewels. It was a crown made of thorns, digging into his scalp.

I can not even imagine the pain he was in at this point. The physical and emotional pain of taking this all, knowing he was an innocent man. But it did not end there...

He was then led to Golgotha to be crucified. The process of crucifixion was in its self a method of torture. It usually took the victims 2-3 days to die, the process of death usually dying of thirst, exhaustion, exposure and suffocation. The only way to breathe on the cross was to push up and take a breath... If they got to weak to lift up to take a breath they would not be able to live much longer.

After a while soldiers would go around and break the legs of men that were still alive, when it got to this point Jesus was already dead to fulfill an earlier prophesy about no bone in his body being broken. So to make sure he was dead they pierced his side with a spear. When they did this blood and water came pouring out. The only way for this to happen is for the heart to explode.

Jesus died of a broken heart...

Jesus was dead, all hope was lost the man that was supposed to save the jews now hung on a tree dead.

But the story does not end there...

Jesus rose again!!! He is alive, He reigns! After Jesus was resurrected he appeared to many of , John 20:24-26 says:Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

his disciples but one would not believe the story unless he saw it himself

Thomas saw the marks on Jesus the spots from the nails. He saw his “Lucky Dot.” Jesus rose from the dead he gave us the ultimate prize on our "Lucky Dot Day" 

"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."(1 corinthians 15:21-22)