NO GREATER LOVE
PREAMBLE: Two men walked down the
lonely stretch that led from Jerusalem to the village called Emmaus. It was
6:30pm, the chickens were going to roost and the herbivores called out to their
young to come home.
As the men walked, they whispered in
low tunes. It was apparent they were sad. A third man joined them, and inquired
why they looked so morose. Upon their reply, he proceeded to tell them a tale,
explaining why the events they had seen in the past few days must occur. Here
is it.
NO GREATER LOVE 2
A man hung dying on a cross. He cut
out a very pitiable figure. His blood flowed out slowly from the numerous
stripes of wound he had incurred. Yet he at this time was the cynosure of all
eyes in the realm of the spirits.
All the demons in the universe had
been invited to witness this event. Ever since the world began, there had not
been a day like unto this no, neither will there ever be another. Trooping down
in their large numbers, for they are tens of billions, they struggled for space
in the sky so everyone could take a look.
NO GREATER LOVE 3
As they looked, they wondered in
amazement. Was this the man whose coming had been fore told by every prophet
and fallen star? Is this the man that had been assigned to reclaim the earth
from them, the savior of mankind?
Was this him who had so tormented and
almost confined them to oblivion in the past three years, were it not for their
resilience? How could this be they wondered. They had expected to see something
spectacular not this ridiculous figure on the cross. So great was there
numbering that they totally eclipsed the sun for three hours, between 3pm and
6pm.
NO GREATER LOVE 4
What is important now is he was in
their hands and if possible they would lay down their own lives fighting,
should anyone attempt to rescue him. They celebrated, shaking hands with each
other. But what had been this man’s
crime that he had to surfer thus.
His travail began early that morning.
From one judgment hall to another, he was found guiltless. Yet his visage was
so disfigured with blood gushing out of his body as a result of the numerous
stripes he had received so that there was no beauty left in him that any man
should desire him. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our
iniquity and by his stripes we were healed. Rejected by men, forsaking by his
friends, like a sheep before the shearer, he opened not his mouth to defend
himself. Thus heartbroken, he became a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
NO GREATER LOVE 5
The angels looked on in total
disbelief from the heavenly city. It hurt them much to see their commander in
chief manhandled by these mere beings. Was it not he whom the mountains bow
down and the seas dry up at the sound of his name that was being ill treated by
these earthlings?
No, this was too much. They waited
eagerly for HIS Majesty to give the command to go rescue their Lord. No such
command was issued. They too did not understand the full process of salvation.
The most radical among them approached HIM who sat upon the throne, before whom
the heavens and the earth do flee, requesting permission to go teach these men
and demons a lesson.
NO GREATER LOVE 6
HIS Majesty, the Ancient of days
replied, “You are permitted to watch, but not to intervene, least you truncate
the whole process of salvation.” Bowing respectfully, they went back to their
posts.
As they watched, a dark patch
appeared in the horizon. Gradually it moved straight towards the messiah. It
grew larger and by the time it rested on him, it had become a very heavy load.
NO GREATER LOVE 7
The highest echelons of Satanists
were alarmed when they saw the patch. What did it contain? All day long, Satan knew
something was wrong but he did not know what it was. Why had the messiah not
made any attempt to defend himself? Why did the angels not come to his rescue?
He did not know.
Immediately they went ahead to
investigate the contents of the bag. It contained the sins of the whole world.
Sins of people gone by, those of people present and that of the future
including yours and mine. Suddenly, the twitch binding their hearts cut open.
Their sluggish minds began to work very fast.
NO GREATER LOVE 8
THIS IS IT! So this is what the whole
salvation debacle is all about, they reasoned. So Jesus did not come to reclaim
the physical world. He came to sacrifice his life for the sins of the whole
world. To them, this is by far worse than claiming the world. Should this
happen, then all the demons were doomed forever.
NO NO NO NO NO O O this cannot be. This
man must not die. And so they that were most eager to see him die were now most
eager to work assiduously for his being alive. But it was no longer in their
hands. Apostle Paul had written in his epistle, “The mystery of Christ’s death
was something even the angels were eager to pry into, which thing the princes
{demons} of this world know not, for had they known, they would have not
crucified the King of Glory.”
NO GREATER LOVE 9
The Father looked down on the son
carrying the weight of sin on the cross. This was too much even for the great I
AM. Rising from his thrown, he turned his face away in great grief. All the
elders and angels fell and put their faces to the ground. The scenario was
charged with great emotions of sorrow. Nothing like this had ever happened
before.
The Son sensing this, cried out, “Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabathani?” which being interpreted mean, My Father, My Father, why
has thou forsaken me?
NO GREATER LOVE 10
Taken possession of many in the crowd,
the evil spirits began to shout, He saved others, why can’t him save himself.
If you are truly the messiah, come down from the cross and we will believe you,
etc. No response from the messiah/
In panic, Satan entering one of the
thieves asked him to come down and also save them. No response either. Rushing
into the second thief, he pleaded, “Lord remember me when you come into your
kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
This statement filled the whole of the
dark forces with sorrow. No human after death had ever entered heaven. The
sinner was cast into hell. The righteous dead were taken to a place called
Abraham’s bosom. However, the spirits here are not tormented
NO GREATER LOVE 11
Herein was the true test for love.
Despised by men, mocked by the evil spirits, forsaken by his Father and
friends, there he hung alone, wondering what to do. He could come down from the
cross and go back to heaven, nobody can stop him. How will that favor mankind?
Let’s assume men were considered to be
ungrateful. Would the same thing be said about the other creatures? The
animals, plants, stars and seas are they not all his creation, had he not often
visited and communed with them, attending to every of their needs? Have they
not done his biddings at one time or the other? Would he now forsake them, when
they needed him the most?
Had it not be written, “For all creation
groan together under the weight of sin until now, for the Ernest expectation of
all creatures await the manifestation of the son of God?”
NO NOO, NOOO. NOOOO! I must not come down. Had he not
himself said shortly before his travail began, “NO GREATER LOVE THAN THIS THAT
AMAN SHOULD LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS?” No I must not come down. I must
endure the cross, I must despise the shame.
NO GREATER LOVE 12
As he reasoned these things, his big
heart began to fill up with love. Scanning the crowd of his crucifiers with
loving eyes, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Shortly after, he said, “It is finished.” Then commending his Spirit into the
hands of his Father, he gave up the ghost.
NO GREATER LOVE 13
The Father looked at the Son, beaming
with smiles, he said, “Well done, my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”
The elders around the throne cast down their golden crowns before the glassy
sea. The angels shouted for joy.
The celestial city was shaken to its
foundation. Meteors serving as emissaries ran from planet to planet, star to
star, world to world proclaiming the good news. Every where this heralds
reached, great joy erupted. All the creatures of our God and King lifted their
voices to sing, “Alleluia, Alleluia, ALLELUIA.”
Lightning flashed criss crossing the
sky. Thunders roared joyfully, the earth quake seriously. The veil dividing the
holy of holies from the rest of the temple tore. A voice was heard in the
underworld saying, “Lift up your heads o ye gates and be ye lifted up, ye
everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.”
NO GREATER LOVE 14
The demons guarding the bosom fled. The
King entered and spirited all the righteous dead to heaven. However, many of
these saints were seen walking in the streets of Jerusalem many days. And haven
ascended on high, Christ led captivity captive and distributed gifts to all
men.
Only in the land of the demons was there
no joy. One by one they left the scene, with their faces covered, greatly
ashamed. What began for them as a carnival, turned out to be their most
humiliating defeat.
Then a herald appeared in the sky and
wrote these words, as I have often seen in my dreams, that all may see and read
thereon,
NO GREATER LOVE 14 CONCLUSIONS.
By this time, the trio was already
seated at Emmaus. Being hungry, they brought forth meat that they might eat.
Taking the bread and fish, he looked up and gave thanks. He broke and gave them
to eat. Wait, this looked familiar, where had they seen it before? Then they
remembered. The veil covering their eyes was taken away. Jesus vanished as they
realized, he was the one who had been talking.
They were his disciples.
The temple of the music lowered as they bowed
down. Then looking outside he saw someone whom he had known coming through the
door. It was his father who had being taken away from the earth not too long
before. Although he was very aged when this happened but he now looked like he
was in the middle age. The countenance of his appearance was as brilliant and
glorious as that of the singing beings. His form was extremely brilliant.
Approaching him, he asked, “Are you him my
father?”
