Our Easter musical presented today was such a great message and wonderful experience of worship. Both lyricists for the musical did a wonderful job of telling the story that we repeat and rehearse every week in worship as we worship the risen Lord Jesus Christ, making Him central to all of our worship. Lloyd Larson's text, as well as all of the music, was very effective. J. Paul Williams was the lyricist for a couple of the anthems. He was actually a very close friend of one of my former pastors, Joe Mosley. J. Paul died in 2010 having written hundreds of texts for anthems. His legacy lives on through his wonderful texts.
Months ago, as I read through this musical, I was hooked because of the wonderful emphasis on Jesus with the imagery of the rock. For hundreds of years that imagery has been used in both scripture and song. So many of the very names given to our Lord Jesus have to do with rock or stone. Jesus prevailed throughout His life, becoming the Chief Cornerstone. In Ephesians 2:20 Paul calls Him the foundation upon which the household of faith was built. In this musical we were able to recount Christ's life of strength and ultimate victory over sin and death.
No stone could hold the living-eternal Rock of our Salvation. A supposedly immovable stone, sealing the tomb of Christ, was supposed to signal the end of Christ's influence here on earth. Instead it became the open gate through which His message would break forth into the world, changing everything. Praise the Lord as we worship Jesus week after week - our living, eternal Rock and hope of glory! mjm
