Just as Jesus once slept peacefully in the stern of a boat while his disciples fussed and fretted over the raging storm, He also rested in a tomb as his followers dealt with a storm of confusion, disappointment and fear. A day after his death, these emotions cycled endlessly through their minds. Memories of the time they spent with him, planning and hoping for the new order they expected Him to lead them into played there too. Memories of what it felt like to walk upon a rolling sea, to feed five thousand people with the lunch of one small boy, to see Lazarus’s burial clothes left in the dirt, no longer needed. No doubt they were heartsick with confusion. What had gone wrong?
The disciples feeble faith in their Lord should not surprise us because if we are honest, we see it in ourselves as well. The “of little faith” as he often called them failed to recognize and remember the things He Himself had told them about His path: that He would suffer for their sakes, that He would lay down His life – and take it up again, that he would be absent from them for 3 days. Had His followers held these things as closely to their hearts as they did their dreams of power, that Sabbath might have been an occasion of joyful anticipation rather than sorrow and fear.
At times in our own lives, God may seem absent, but we know that He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5). And, unlike those disciples, we will never experience the dark prospect of a failed savior. Still, we often forget the promises of God. In the face of uncertainty we often turn to a Do-It-Yourself kind of Christianity.
Too often we look no farther than our own solutions when what we need is the wonder working power of Christ’s resurrection and an attitude of humble anticipation as we wait on Him. If we have faith in God as a candle, we too can rest through the darkness of night knowing that morning will surely come.
Happy Good Friday and I wish you a blessed Easter weekend.
Amen and amen.
Thank you, Joy.
Happy Easter, Doug.
Thank you, Stu. I hope your Passover holiday went well also.
Amen and happy Resurrection Sunday to all!
Thanks G.P.
The problem as I see it is that most of the time they did not understand Jesus as He told them what was about to happen. Jesus had to consistently explain to them His parables and the meanings of His word. Even then when the time came they let their doubts overcome them.
I feel especially sorry for Peter who denied Him three times. I also feel sorry for myself and others like me who let the worldly thing come between the way I want to be and the way I am.
So true, Sire. They were so focused on their ambitions and hopes that Israel would become the new Rome that they just didn’t comprehend much of what Jesus was trying to teach them until after the resurrection. They tried to make his teachings fit their views. We tend to do the same now. Many “modern” churches preach a theology based on “God Loves Everyone”, and He does, but they also teach that the way to Heaven is wide and everyone will find it, when in fact the Word of God teaches us just the opposite. Those who try to conform God and Heaven to their ambitions and hopes will find their feet on the broad path to destruction, not the narrow path to Heaven. (Matthew 7:13-14)