afraid of the dark...?

Do not fear the shadowy places. You will never be the first one there. Another went ahead and down until He came out the other side.

---N.D. Wilson, Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl

Jesus... He's gone ahead... into the darkest places imaginable...

I find the darkest today... in the reading through...for The Journey...

So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged (flogged, whipped) Him. And the soldiers, having twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and threw a purple cloak around Him. And they kept coming to Him and saying, Hail, King of the Jews! [Good health to you! Peace to you! Long life to you, King of the Jews!] And they struck Him with the palms of their hands.

Then Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I bring Him out to you, so that you may know that I find no fault (crime, cause for accusation) in Him.

So Jesus came out wearing the thorny crown and purple cloak, and Pilate said to them, See, [here is] the Man!

When the chief priests and attendants (guards) saw Him, they cried out, Crucify Him! Crucify Him!

John 19:1-6 Amp

And the one who found no fault in Him... had Him beaten... scourged... ridiculed... tormented... just to prove it...

And the world... cries for the crucifixion of its Creator...

And does it get any darker than this...?

The treadmill read reminds... there is no darkness... where He has not gone first...

The Word reminds... He is trustworthy in the shadows...

And the Light shines on in the darkness, 

for the darkness has never overpowered it...

John 1:5 Amp

Even here... where the Light looks doused... the darkness of death... does not overpower...

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,

but God raised him on the third day...

Acts 10:39-40 ESV

He faced deepest darkness... head on... willfully laying down His life... for the glory of His Father... and the salvation of many...

"... Greater love has no one than this,

that someone lay down his life for his friends. ..." ---Jesus

John 15:13 ESV

And He came to show us... Do not be afraid of the dark...

"... I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." ---Jesus

John 17:33 ESV

Because He has... we can...

Consider him who endured from sinners 

such hostility against himself, 

so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted 

to the point of shedding your blood.

Hebrews 12:3-4 ESV

Lord Jesus... no matter what darkness we face today... no matter what dis-ease... remind us to fix our eyes on You... consider You... trust You... as the Light... which will NEVER... be overpowered...