Once upon a time a man lived in a little village that was overrun with skunks. This man was a good hunter and trapper and knew how to entice the skunks into cages. People would ask him to come and remove the skunks that denned up under their houses. He became known as the “SKUNKMAN”! He eventually charged a small fee for his services and most people were happy to pay him to take away the odorous little creatures.

One day, after removing the fifth skunk from a home, the homeowner asked what would happen if he didn’t pay. The SKUNKMAN said he put captured skunks into little cages and gave his clients thirty days to pay. If on the thirty- first day he had not received his money, all the skunks he had collected from under the non-payers home would be returned to the front porch. Needless to say, this policy was seldom enforced.

Our sins are like skunks, they seem to hang around and stink. Satan likes to bring them back to our door, over and over and over. He wants to shove our faces into our mistakes and shortcomings. He wants to keep us captive, ruminating over old failures. It is one of Satan’s biggest tricks, to get people to despair and think there is no way they can be “good enough” to be acceptable to God. The good news is that the price of our “skunkey” sins are paid for by the blood of the Son of God, Jesus Christ! Satan cannot bring back our sins for payment, they have been paid, in full!

“ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“…and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” I John. 1:7

Two lessons for Christians today:

1.  Jesus DID exactly what he said he would do

2.  Jesus WILL DO exactly what he said he will do

…but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”  At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”  Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” John 20:11-17 (NIV)

Mary should have known.  Jesus had driven out her demons and she was with him to the end and heard what he had said.  She was the first one at the tomb the morning Jesus arose and she didn’t even remember His words when the body wasn’t there, thinking instead someone must have moved his body.

A man had a great dream and he had the confidence of one who could visualize success.  He knew he would be successful so he left his job as a laborer and worked full-time on the endeavor of his dreams.

He chose his few employees carefully, their pay was meager.  He promised them that the number of helpers would grow and the rewards for their loyalty would be without equal.

For three years the man worked toward his vision.  Marketing surveys were done to the point he knew what the people were thinking.  He advertised throughout the area and held promotional stunts to set up for his grand opening.  He would pull into the area towns and know that people were expecting something unusual to happen.  He would do anything to advertise, he had the people’s attention.  While not everyone responded positively, people were lining up to be a part of his vision.

The day of the grand opening arrived.  In his moment of triumph he knew that years of toiling, late nights working, and the life of a traveling salesman were about to pay off.  He had truly set up the greatest business of all time.  This was the moment the people were waiting for.