Good Friday… the end of the day…
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
John 10:28-30 NKJV
Jesus… Teacher… Healer… Miracle-Worker… hung dead on a cross…
The disciples’ hopes dashed… smashed… into a million pieces…
There’s nothing left to do with the dead… the broken dreams… the shattered hopes… but bury them…
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus…
John 19:38-42 NKJV
The disciples who followed Jesus openly were scattered… fearful… devastated… confused… they were in no shape to bury their Master…
But two men… both part of the Jewish council who condemned Jesus… two men who secretly believed in Jesus… now came forward… to bury Him…
Maybe they felt guilty… for not speaking up more loudly during the mock trial held by the priests… maybe their shame left them feeling responsible for His death… so that now there was no way to follow Him in the flesh… they revealed their belief… by honoring Him in His death…
Funny how we respond differently to shattered dreams… and hopes turned hope-less…
Some hide… some try to justify what they believed… by stepping up and defending a dead dream…
But either way… what’s dead… has to be buried…
Are you at a place where you buried hopes and dreams…? how have you responded to waiting in hope…? for something you believe He promised…? but looks long dead…?
Well… it’s the end of a long day… how will you respond…? as you wait in the silence of Saturday…?
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