Do not Go Gentle Into that Good Night-An. Easter Devotion

In Season 4, Episode 62 of Echoes Through Eternity, Dr. Skinner delves into the profound spiritual journey from the despair of Good Friday to the jubilant revelation of Easter Sunday, illustrating the ultimate victory of Jesus Christ over death and the promise of eternal life for all who believe.

The episode, titled "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night!" captures the palpable shift from the gloom that enveloped the disciples and followers of Jesus after His crucifixion to the awe-inspiring moment of His resurrection.The narrative begins in the shadows of Friday's events—Judas's tragic end, the scattering of the disciples, and the deceptive silence of those who sought Jesus's death, juxtaposed against the backdrop of Rome's indifferent rule.

Yet, even in this darkness, the earth itself rebels, as if nature itself mourns the injustice inflicted upon the Son of God, and the temple veil is torn, signaling a direct, unobstructed access to the divine.Dr. Skinner vividly recounts the eerie silence that follows the storm, a silence that seems to hold the weight of the world's grief. But then, the dawn of Sunday brings a miraculous revelation: the tomb is empty, and Jesus has risen. This moment of recognition between Mary Magdalene and the risen Christ is a tender testament to the personal relationship Jesus offers to each of us.

The episode emphasizes the transformation that occurs within the disciples and all who hear of Jesus's resurrection. From fear and despair, there emerges a renewed faith and purpose, fueled by the undeniable truth of Jesus's victory over death. This resurrection is not just an event but a call to all believers to live out the teachings of Christ with fervor and conviction, spreading the good news of His love and salvation.

Dr. Skinner connects this biblical narrative to the broader theme of overcoming darkness with light, of hope triumphing over despair. Through the lens of Wesleyan theology, he explores the implications of Jesus's resurrection for personal faith, community revival, and global transformation.
The episode concludes with a powerful reminder of the ongoing echo of Jesus's victory through the lives of believers, a chorus of faith that joins the heavenly declaration, "He is Risen Indeed!"

This installment of Echoes Through Eternity not only recounts the Easter story but also invites listeners to reflect on their own journey with Christ. It challenges each one to not go gentle into the good night of complacency or despair but to embrace the light of Christ's resurrection, living out the hope and love that it signifies.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/echoes-through-eternity-with-dr-jeffery-skinner--5523198/support.

Echoes Through Eternity Guiding church planters and pastors to plant seeds of prayer, holiness, and courage that outlast a lifetime. contact [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Marcus Aurelius said, what we doin life echoes through eternity. What is
your life echoing through eternity? Welcometo Echoes through Eternity with doctor Jeffrey Skinner.
Our mission is to inspire, engage, and encourage leaders from across the
globe to plant missional churches and beservant leaders. So join us and hear

(00:22):
the stories of servant leaders reverberating livesas God echoes them through Eternity. Brought
to you by Missional Church Planting andLeadership Development and Dynamic Church Planning International.
Welcome into Echoes through Eternity. Iam your host, Doctor Jeffrey D.
Skinner. Well, welcome back tothe beginning of season four. Ticking it

(00:42):
off on Easter Sunday, the holiestday of the year, twenty twenty four.
A lien a while apologize for takinga while to get back on a
little bit of a hiatus. Ihad to finish up my book Reachable,
Seven Keys to Loving, mentoring andleading the Church as the Next Generation.
I'm excited to tell you that,as completed, I have submitted it to

(01:03):
the editor. We're expecting it tobe released. I would say it should
be available for purchase by the beginningof May. We are that close,
just waiting to find out a price. You can go to reachable book dot
com right now and reserve your copy. When you do that signs you up
for kind of some preview emails thatyou'll kind of begin to get a taste

(01:26):
of what's in the various chapters ofthe book. And additionally, he'll get
fifteen percent off once the order preorder is available, You'll get a code
the email. You then put thatcode, and then you will receive fifteen
percent off your book when you orderit directly. For me, I can't
give you an Amazon code. Ican't control the Amazon pricing or anywhere else.

(01:49):
But I can control the pricing forme, and I can purchase at
a discount some copies from the publisher, and so that enables me to then
give this to you at a discountas well. This is a fantastic book,
if I do say so myself.I've gotten some great endorsements from some
high quality leaders, doctor Carla Sunbergfrom General Superintendent Church of Nazarene, my

(02:13):
District Superintendent, Kyle Poole, JayAckerman, a professor at Northwest Asurin University,
as well as another district superintendent onthe Alaska District and Reverend h.
Lamar Smith, who is just avenerated pastor, been around for years and
years and years, highly respected,and he tread over it and has given
a great endorsement as well. Otherendorsements are headed this way, and so

(02:38):
you don't have to take my wordfor it, you can take their word
for it. I am not oneto try and self promote. I'm always
of the opinion that if I'm havingto braggle myself, then something wrong.
Nobody else has to if I wraglemyself. So I'm trying to be careful
about that. Don't do a lotof self promotion. I will promote some
content, which is necessary within manystory within content creation, but it's not

(03:02):
for the purposes of trying to makemyself famous or anything like that. I
care less about fame. As longas the Lord, I am faithful to
the Lord. That is my onlyconcern. But we do have a video
series, a small group series thatwill be coming out with the book,
A Reachable Companion Guide, as longas as well as I had a friend
of mine, Richie John's Studio fiftythree, who's worked on the set of

(03:24):
the Chosen and a lot of hashis on his own films produced to excuse
me, available Angel studios, placeslike that, and able to heat.
I attend church together and I wasable to get a greatly discounted rate with
him for some high quality videos.We recorded that and put all that done.

(03:44):
So that's what I've been doing forthe last three months. That of
Beer on Hiatus has been Christmas isthe last time that I did this,
and so I apologize for my absencethere, but I am back and wanting
to start today with an Easter messagethat I wrote. I woke up at
five o'clock this morning. Didn't intendto create any type of blog, which
you can find me on Facebook,Doctor Jeffrey D. Skinner Missional Leadership Coaching

(04:10):
as well. And then I've gota private page jeff Skinner that you can
find on Facebook Atlanta, Georgia,and so you can look me up on
there. But I wrote this abouttwo o'clock this Morning's Lord woke me up.
I couldn't get back to sleep.That says, this was resonating in
my mind and just playing over andover, and it's like the words just
came and so I sat and wrotethem, and I wanted to hop on

(04:35):
today and I'll get this published andit'll be available on Monday, but I
wanted to hop on today and justkind of read this this Easter message here,
and then as we record over thenext couple of weeks and months,
I will be sharing insight from mynew book, Reachable and again reachablebook dot

(04:56):
com. You can go there findout all about it. With all that
being said, let me get startedhere entitled this do not go gentle into
that good night. Friday ended indarkness. Jesus had killed himself, Others
had scattered. Even the high priestand their Sanhedrin were hiding in shame.

(05:19):
All of his disciples, say forJohn Mary Magdalen Salame married the mother of
Jesus jose also known as Joseph andJames. Everyone else had abandoned him and
hid in fear. The victory forthose who had demanded Jesus be crucified seemed

(05:41):
as hollow as a drum beat inan empty hall. Perhaps only Rome was
satisfied. They had seemingly avoided anotherrebellion. They could continue to occupy a
stolen land, one for which theydid not labor filled with seas. They
did not build houses full of goodthings. They did not fill cisterns they
did not dig, and vineyards andolive trees they did not plant. Perhaps

(06:06):
Caesar was too drunk on his ownspirits to care. Drunk on power,
Satan's victory was short lived. Jesuswas now rescuing those Satan thought he had
a tight grip upon, and deathhad claimed. It seems the enemy had
made his lair. Friday was loud, the earth convulsed. It appears Jesus

(06:29):
warning that the rocks would cry outeven if the if the praises in Jerusalem
were silence were correct. The templebell was shredded, no longer or shrouded
the Holy of Holies, revealing hisstark emptiness. Even there, it would
seem God's presence was gone. Itgoodbad. The thunder clapped like an audience

(06:49):
applause after virtuoso performance, resounding inferbentAlas. This was a thing, But
applause, not Heaven, not thecrowds. Nay, there was no applause
none. Jesus was stilled behind amonolithic abomination in his gifted tomb. Thanks

(07:15):
to the generosity of Joseph of Airmathia. It is ironic the only gifts we
ever hear of Jesus receiving of theperfume with which Mary had used to wash
jesus feet with her hair, somethingJesus alluded to his preparation for his burial
and a tomb. Briday was dark, hollow, hopeless, and in the

(07:38):
end early silent. I imagine thethunder had sent everyone inside and clinging.
The guards who had gambled over Jesus'clothing, along with those who had mocked
him, were now isolated with theirshame. Then it was Sunday. The
ladies had gone to the tomb,only to find the monolithics don't rolled away

(08:00):
instead of Jesus's body laying asleep,and angels sat inquisitively asking why they sought
the living among the dead. Mary, distraught, asked the gardener if he's
moved jesus body. Then Jesus speaksto her by name Mary, and in
that moment of personal address, sherecognizes him when exclaims, in there,

(08:24):
mad Ramona. The ladies returned tothe disciples exuberantly declaring Jesus is alive.
John and Peter, being the typicalman, they were rushed to the tomb
to see for themselves the carn arrivingJohn, who reached the tomb first looked
inside and saw the linen wrappings lyingthere, but did not go in.

(08:46):
Then Simon Peter arrived and went intothe tomb, saw the linen wrappings and
the cloth that had been wrapped aroundJesus' head. After Peter, John also
went inside, saw and believed,by Solomon's wisdom they were right. The
rest of the disciples were back inthe upper room when Jesus appeared to them,

(09:09):
Peace be with you. Peace seriously, no exuberance, ecstatic, elated,
rupturous, rapturous, anything but peace. Then flabergasted, stunned, aghast,
Jesus Sunday was here. Indeed,three days after his crucifixion, Jesus

(09:31):
was here. Jesus was risen,Love had prevailed, Hope was not lost.
The tangible presence of Jesus was crucifiedand now standing in life before the
migniighty fire of hope, affirming thatlove indeed had triumphed over death. A
profound shift occurs from morning to jubilation, from doubt to unshakable faith. Previously

(09:54):
heavy with grief and uncertainty. Theirhearts now beat with a renewed purpose and
passion. The physical evidence of Jesuswound, serving his undeniable proof of his
sacrifice and victory over the grave solidifiedtheir understanding and commitment to the path laid
out before them. In the presenceof their risen Lord, the air vibrated

(10:16):
with a palpable sense of awe andreference. The realization that hope was not
only restored, but made indestructible envelopedeach of them, reinforcing the truth of
jesus teachings and the reality of hisdivinity. This pivotable, this pivotal encounter,

(10:37):
transformed the disciples, empowering them tospread the message of jesus Resurrection with
newfound fervor and unbreakable faith, foreveraltering the course of history. Jesus did
not go gentle into that good night. As he slept, he descended into
shall he had work to do.All ye who are dead, hear the

(11:01):
hope of heaven. I have conquereddeath. For all who believe you are
free. He is risen, anda great cloud of witnesses reply, he
is risen. Indeed, hallelujah,Amen, I can almost hear what would
reveal to George Frederick Hundle as hepenned the words for the Hallelujah Cords from
the Messiah, Hallelujah for the LordGod, omnipotent reign of Hallelujah. The

(11:24):
kingdom of this world has become theKingdom of our Lord and of his Christ
and of His Christ. And heshall reign forever and ever, King of
Kings and Lord of Lords, Kingof Kings, in Lord of Lords.
And he shall reign forever and ever, forever and ever, forever and ever.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. The proclamation that goes

(11:56):
through the ages attestament to the powerof resurrection and eternal hope. It brings
to all who believe. The victoryover death and sin, heralded in an
empty tomb, and the risen Christ, marks the beginning of a new covenant,
where love, life, and lighttriumph over darkness. The disciples,

(12:16):
once runned in despair and doubt,are now the bearers of the greatest news
ever told. Theirs and our lives, transformed and unbreakable faith set the foundation
for spring to gospel, igniting aflame of hope that continues to burn brightly
across the generations. Jesus's journey didnot end in the silence of the tomb,

(12:39):
but erupted into the glory of resurrection, declaring to all creation that death
had been defeated. The message ofEaster encapsulated the joyous affirmation he has risen,
indeed advice everyone to partake in thevictory of Christ, to live in
the freedom of His love, andto share in the end eternal life he

(13:01):
offers. In this triumphant moment,the disciples and all of us are reminded
that in Christ, endings can becomebeginnings, despair can transform into hope,
and through His power, we toocan overcome the trials of this world.
Or in Him we find the promiseof a future where peace, joy and

(13:22):
love reign forever and ever. Hallelujah, Amen. Thank you for joining me
today on Nichos through Eternity. Ihope you've enjoyed his brief message. We'll

(13:46):
be back again with season four verysoon. Stay tuned. In the meantime,
you can go to reachablebook dot comto find out more about my upcoming
book, Visible Seven Keys to Loving, mentoring, and leading the Church of
the next generations. M.