Today’s Scripture Reading (March 30, 2018): 2 Peter 3
Today is Good Friday. I sometimes find it
interesting to think about what the disciples might have been going through at
this moment in time. I am not sure that any of them had gotten much sleep since the nap they couldn’t seem to avoid while
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Since then, their world had fallen
apart, beginning with the betrayal of a trusted friend, the arrest of Jesus,
the scattering of the apostle, the denial of Peter and then the execution of
Jesus like a criminal. There had been a trial and a sentence of death. All of
the disciples, except John, had gone into
hiding. I can see them sitting in dark corners with the doors and windows
closed just hoping that no one would come knocking. The fear in those rooms
would have been palpable.
It wasn’t that they hadn’t seen the moment
coming. Thomas had prophesied of this very moment just as the disciples made
their turn to begin to walk toward Jerusalem (John 11:16). But somehow knowing
that a moment is going to arrive and watching the events actually take place are two very different
things.
I wonder
as Passover approached if maybe the
disciples started to believe that they were going to get out of this situation
with their lives. After all, they knew that Jesus was the Messiah and that
everything was under his control. He had fought with the religious elite in the
Temple all week, and yet they had not made a move against him. Now it was just
a matter of celebrating Passover, and
then, three days from now, they would be able to leave Jerusalem for the
relative safety of Galilee.
But then their world fell apart. Everything
had ended so quickly, the disciple’s lives
had been stolen away from them just as a thief sneaks in and takes away the
belongings of his victim while the owner of the house and his family are asleep.
And now, only John showed up for the crucifixion. Only John was prepared to
watch this final act in the life of his rabbi, Jesus. In reality, John was
probably too young to believe that anything bad could really happen to him. But the rest of the followers understood how
bad things could get and were now hiding behind locked doors.
Maybe Peter was reliving that moment as he
wrote these words. Just as Jesus was stolen
from us on that Good Friday, so when he returns it will be a surprise. He will
come when we least expect it. Only this time, there will be no place to hide.
All of the happenings in the heavens and on the earth will be laid bare, and everything will be seen as it really is. There
will be no warning. Oh, there will be Thomases that walk among us who will
suspect something is about to happen, there will be those who will attempt to
pin it down and tell us the date and time, but none of that will matter. When
Jesus returns, it will be a surprise to all of us, just as his leaving was,
even though the moment was expected, a
surprise to the disciples. For some, this
moment will be one of terror, but for all,
it will be a surprise.
After all, this is the essential meaning of
Good Friday. Jesus death is the down payment that God made on our lives. And if he died and rose, then have no doubt that he will return, like a thief
in the night, to take us where he is.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Hebrews 1
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