Each one of us is in a time of anticipation this Easter. Regardless of our beliefs, whether church feels like home or not, right now we can relate to how Jesus’ friends and followers must have felt as they awaited hope.
I’ve heard the word ‘unprecedented’ more times than I can count in the last few weeks. No one could have predicted that for thousands of students, that their time at university would come to an abrupt end. No one could have predicted lockdowns that prevented friends from celebrating with a hat-toss at graduation this summer or taking family photos with a diploma in hand. For many of us, we had a plan, an expectation of how this year would look, yet the uncertainty of life itself has forced us into a period of waiting, trusting and learning how to process the disappointment we’re faced with.
Maybe this is how Jesus’ friends felt on Good Friday.
Just days prior to Jesus’ death, He was being welcomed into Jerusalem as a King. He’d been turning over tables at the temple and raising dead people to life. I imagine that His friends would have created expectations of what victory would look like, blissfully unaware that as they cheered Him on with palm leaves into Jerusalem, they were cheering Him to His death.
But He knew. And He kept on walking.
We like to believe that for every situation, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but for His friends and followers, Jesus Himself was their light. So when Good Friday came and their Saviour was crucified on a cross, they were without hope. Every expectation they had and plan they’d made for how hope would prevail was lost at the cross.
I imagine they woke up on the Saturday morning in grief, confusion and disappointment.
I imagine that’s how many of us may be feeling right now.
But what his friends didn’t know was that Easter Sunday was coming.
And so they began to mourn, allowing themselves space to grieve and have closure when they closed off the tomb.
Maybe it’s okay for us to do that too, to allow ourselves the space to grieve what could have been and mourn what we’ve lost.
But we do so awaiting the hope of Easter Sunday, knowing that resurrection is coming.
Unshakeable God, you are my ever-present help in times of trouble. Amidst all the isolation, grief and fear caused by this crisis, renew in me your peace, restore to me your perspective, and reveal to me your presence as I spend this time with you now.
