W-e-l-l-i-n-t-o-n d-e-a-f-e-a-t-e-d.

For long dreary years England had fought against Napoleon, expending her treasure and the lives of her citizens. Then came the final battle at Waterloo, where everything was at stake.

There was no telephone, no radio, and no email. News from the battlefield had to be sent either by a living messenger or, if the weather was clear, by semaphore. We can only imagine the tenseness, the fear, as the great city of London waited for some word of the battle. Suddenly the semaphore began to work, slowly spelling out, “W-e-l-l-i-n-t-o-n d-e-a-f-e-a-t-e-d.”

Then the fog came down, and not another word could be received. “Wellington defeated!” Hope changed to despair and the darkness of night closed in. Orders were given to fortify the roads, the bridges, even the pathways; to throw up entrenchments along the coast, and to be ready to make a last stand.

The near noon the next day the fog lifted; the semaphore began to work again- “Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo!” The message was completed. Fear changed to joy, darkness to light, fear to victory! The tyrant was gone; a new age had come, a new hour for civilization.

So it was at Calvary. It seemed that Satan has gained a victory over the world. Even the heavens were shrouded with gloom as Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matthew 27:46.

The disciples fled, and our Savior’s mission seemed to be an irretrievable defeat as darkness covered the earth and the souls of men. But that wasn’t the end of the story.

He was crucified in weakness, but he arose in power! And when the mists rolled away on the morning of the third day, the cry went forth, “He is risen!”

Defeat was changed to victory, darkness to light, and night to day. That message which seemed to be “Christ defeated,” when finished was, “Christ defeated Satan at Calvary!”

It was the light of the resurrection which finished the message and completed the story, bringing a new age, a new hope, to the hearts of men.