Saturday

March 30

Today we sit in the agony of gloom and defeat. Today we are haunted by the horrible sights of yesterday that are impressed indelibly upon our mind’s eye. The beautiful, kind, loving, perfect man with whom we have walked, with whom we have broken bread, to whom we have listened in awe for three years, is lying broken and battered in a borrowed tomb.

Today, we hide in fear of the Romans who nailed Him to the cross and in dread of our own leaders who insisted He be crucified. Today we marvel at the fickleness of man who jubilantly shouted “Hosanna” and cast palm fronds at His feet (Matthew 21:9) as He entered Jerusalem and who yelled, “Give us Barabbas,” (John 18:40) when Pilate would have set Him free.

Today we are overtaken by confusion and doubt. Today we are disappointed in ourselves because we didn’t stand by Him at His time of need. Today we are disappointed in Him because He left us broken and disappointed when we thought we were to reign beside Him in His glorious Kingdom.

Today we are hiding from ourselves, from our anguish, from our anger, from our utter disbelief in our total immersion in His failed cause. Today we are too broken to do so, but we know we must plot our way back to normal life—when we overcome our fear of the Romans, we must face the reality of our failure through the scoffing of our neighbors and friends—and return to the work-a-day world.

Today we ponder our return to the mundanity of life without the excitement of working for the Kingdom; without the joy of walking with the King.