Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.
Matthew 28: 5-6 NLT
Last week my parents had to put down one of the cats we have had since I was in high school; she had a good life, but still we hated to lose her. Even though I don’t live there anymore, I still keep thinking about how a week ago we still had Gertie with us. … That’s how it goes, isn’t it? I remember when we lost my grandfather, how I couldn’t believe that just 24 hours ago he had been with us, then 48 hours, then a week, then a month… Time keeps going but we never get our loved ones back on this side of eternity.
I imagine that’s how the disciples felt the day Jesus was crucified. They had just had the Passover meal with Him the night before—how was He now hanging on the cross? Did they feel silly for arguing about who would be first in Heaven? Did they feel betrayed because what kind of Savoir allows Himself to be killed? I think about the three disciples that were with Him in the garden (Peter, James and John)—were they beating themselves up that they hadn’t been able to stay awake in the garden the night before with Jesus? And Peter, oh especially overly enthusiastic Peter, who had declared that he loved Jesus, that he would never forsake him. Before even a couple hours had gone by, Peter had denied him three times. How must he have felt watching the one he loved so much hang on that cross knowing that he had denied him!
The disciples must have counted the days, wandering around in a kind of shocked trance, not fully believing that Jesus was really gone. But then comes the miracle! Jesus didn’t stay dead! Can you imagine having Mary run up to you shouting that she had seen Jesus! That’s the news they had longed for but no one rises from the dead! Still they followed her and found the tomb empty!
It always surprises me that the disciples were so slow to believe when, I mean, this stuff was foretold to them in their scriptures—and by Jesus! Still, we are human, we are familiar with the natural rhythms of this earth, and the natural order of things is that the dead stay dead. But Jesus is not natural. He is not of this earth. He is King of Kings, Lord of Heaven and Earth—and not confined to the rules of this world!
Let us rejoice this Easter in the knowledge that we serve a savoir that death cannot control and that because of Him, those who choose to serve Him, never have to say goodbye for forever.