Jesus had been crucified and hastily put into a tomb; they waited. What were they waiting for exactly? Who can say…
It is hard to imagine what was going through the minds of His disciples, and those others who had believed so strongly in Jesus the day after He died. I’m sure that their despair was filled with anxiety about what would happen next, what would happen to them. Certainly for the disciples, they had been seen all over the countryside with Jesus; people knew who His disciples were. Would they too be taken away?
Maybe they puzzled over what had happened; He did tell them He was going away; hadn’t He said something about preparing a place for them in the Father’s house? Was this a kind of suicide cult or something?
So many questions; so many worries!
Looking back on the events of those difficult days, with the aid of the Scriptures, we might ask why they weren’t getting ready for a celebration; Jesus had actually told them quite a lot about the Plan. Think about it: They were the only people in the world who would have known that their sins had just been forgiven, and that eternal life was within reach; isn’t this good news, shouldn’t they be excited and filled with anticipation rather than dismay and dread?
Come to think of it, they were just like us.
Yes, I really mean that, for we have even more information to go on then they had; we know the end of the story, yet we wait, and worry about the future and stress over the details of this life. Can I pay the bills? Will we be able to have children? Will the car break down? Will there be war? Will I recover my health? What will become of my children if I die? Will there be another round of layoffs? Will it ever rain in California again?
So here we sit, waiting… waiting for… what?
Waiting for everything to be wonderful? For money or health? For world peace or for the Second Coming?
Why do we this? Maybe it’s the human condition, maybe we’re easily distracted… I really don’t know. I do know this, however: Jesus died for our sins and rose again. He has seen fit to share His grace and love with you and me, and has asked that we share His grace and love with others; oh yes, and along the way He told us not to worry about this life and its struggles. You might think me a simpleton, but I take great comfort and encouragement from that, even though I slip into needless worry sometimes too.
His disciples were struck with awe and amazement when they met Jesus again the next day, and I daresay they were cheered up when He was in their presence after the resurrection… yet I’d be willing to bet they were anxious on the days they didn’t see Him.
Go figure.
Life Project Blog 
I can only imagine what his disicples and believers were thinking on this day. Confusion, shock, fear they were next? Yes, prayer had to be done in an epic proportion. I am sure back then they were shaken at that moment. Remember, we know what happened later, they were living it at the time.
While here, will you be watching the premiere of “A.D.” tomorrow night?
No, I only have Netflix and MLB TV; no cable.
Good for you! I don’t even use Netflix, and I don’t know what MLB TV might be.
Stopped watching TV over thirty years ago. Still worry, but probably not as much as I might otherwise.
MLB TV is baseball…
Sport fanatics got to get their fix.
😉
I suppose you’re right… opening day is tomorrow!
Great post. We were discussing with friends recently about stress – trying ever so hard not to it creeps up on us – our bodies were never meant to handle any – I have to constantly remind myself that I do know the end of the story…….. I come out of the wilderness leaning on my beloved……
Happy Easter to you…
cate
It’s easy to get stressed about being stressed!
ha – yes it is! 😀
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Great post, Don…
This “between day”… yes, isn’t it amazing how ill-equipped we are for “waiting”, or for dealing with a sense of “suspense”? That breathless sense of… “waiting to exhale”?
I’ve always thought this day was, well, yes… “grief” certainly. But more than anything, did you ever get “lost” as a child? Get separated in a strange place from parents or class, and be overwhelmed by the sense of being vulnerable and alone? When panic so overtook you that you stood alone and cried out, “Help!” or “Mommy!” or “Daddy!” and there was no one to come?
If not, perhaps as a parent you recall a time when you couldn’t find your own child for a moment…
Remember that heart-stopping fear that grips the very soul?
I think of that mostly, in considering this day back then. The “inconceivable” had happened. “Jesus… was gone… We saw Him die… We washed His limp and bloody body… and now… we… are… alone…”
As you say, we (in the here and now), “know the rest of the story”.
(All the more ironic that the miracle of the Resurrection itself could not be witnessed by His loved ones because of the requirements of religion! They had to wash Him hurriedly, wind Him in graveclothes, and scurry home before sundown because of the Passover Sabbath… or risk even further persecution by the Temple Police. To honor “religious God” they had to abandon Jesus. (Amazing, no?))
But ALSO as you say, we in the here and now, even KNOWING the rest of the story, still struggle with that same breath-taking fear of abandonment at times. Christian or no, I believe the greatest, deepest fear we ever know is the fear of loss of love. Whether by death, by betrayal, or countless other means… we fear being abandoned and left alone, without our “anchoring others” who love us and who we love.
Pretending, for a moment, that we DIDN’T, we DON’T, “know the rest of the story”… and assuming (as I always do) that God knows what He’s doing, and all things are arranged to our (and the disciples’) growth, grace, blessing, and love… then “Why?” this “separation time”? Why this “fear time”? Why this “insecurity time”?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It would seem, the answer is reflected in the very questions. Jesus “gave His word”. He “promised”. They HEARD that. They KNEW that. And for right now… in this terrible day… they could count on that, they could anchor to that, they could depend on that, even though they had no “evidence”, no “worldly positivistic, scientific, provable, sane… FACTS to back it up. This day, this terrible day, required faith to endure with any kind of comfort.
“Proof” was coming. We know that. They didn’t. “Evidence”, “Fact”, all that stuff was coming… soon. But God, Father, Jesus, and Spirit… allowed them the discomfort of this “Faith Day”. One thing that did (though certainly not the “only” thing)… was challenge them to a whole new dimension of Faith. They had His WORDS… nothing else. He was not there, today… to guide them and receive their worship. But His WORDS were. He was not there, today… to comfort them, to teach them, to process all this with them. But His WORDS were.
Today was part of a process, a transition… that they learn not to “seek the living among the dead”. They had the Truth… it would set them free… but it would be in His words, not in the “facts” or the “law” that they would find it. Not merely in what their eyes would see or ears would hear.
That’s a difficult transition to make… for them then… for us now.
This terrible, seemingly alone, seemingly abandoned day… this is a day of transition.
Hmmm… maybe being “born” is something like this. Perhaps being “born again” is something like this, too?
Grace — LM
Yes, maybe it is…
I really like the way you put this, LM. FAITH. Those poor disciples really should have understood what was going on, Jesus had tried to tell them. Maybe they comprehended His words… but I doubt it. Yet they spent so much time with him, they had seen so much… but NOW WHAT?! Yes, they had His words, they had His WORD… as we do. But sometimes it doesn’t SEEM real, even though it really is, for it is more real than anything of this world.
Wednesday night I was trimming up so broccoli to be steamed, and in the process, I also cut a piece off of my finger. It was very messy (I had to toss out a bunch of broccoli) and it kind of hurt, in fact for me at that time, it was reality itself. Even now I accept it as a fact because it’s a little awkward typing this.
Now that I’ve told you about it, I have a hunch that (after you stop laughing) it won’t be nearly as real to you as it is to me, for to you, and anyone who reads this, it’s just words, a concept, a mental picture… a funny story about an idiot who is too dumb to know that blind guys shouldn’t play with sharp knives. Maybe it’s not even a real event, just a metaphor of some kind! Hmm… like rising again on the third day. The Word of God is very real, more real than any physical reality that we know of, more real than any trial we might ever face in this life. Those disciples learned that lesson on that middle day, or so it would seem considering how their stories ended. Yes, LM, what a wonderful and inspiring comment!
Thank you for writing it!
Don
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Don, I surmise there was fear and doubt and grief, but perhaps also faith and hope in the waiting. I think of the times a small amount of fish and bread was turned into an abundant enough amount to feed 5,000 and 4,000, yet somehow the disciples didn’t get it. At the same time, they continued to follow Jesus with childlike faith. And I wonder at the same time, though we aren’t told, who might have dropped to their knees upon seeing the resurrected Jesus; who may have cried tears of joy, or who simply flung their arms around him in a hug?
You’re a little more optimistic about their frame of mind than I am, but you make an interesting point. Hmmm… who knows?
Hah! Yes, especially from Mark’s (Peter’s) point of view. 😀
I had often thought that they were not waiting, they were in hiding. At this point they had just seen the Messiah crucified and buried. To them this was the end of things, the great hope of the kingdom on earth, and the overthrow of the Romans and the Sanhedrin, dashed. They were now in fear for their lives.
Would the Pharisees seek them out as well?
What would happen if they showed up in the community, now that Jesus was dead. How would the people treat them?
Also, they had abandoned everything, and had little, if anything, to return to. What’s next?
Remember, they did not believe Mary when she told them that he had risen. This was before that, they had no hope of Jesus rising from the dead, they could not even conceive of such a thing. They didn’t understand the temple analogy at this point.
Exactly!