It’s Good Friday, and I can’t help thinking that maybe we should be looking at things from a little different perspective this year.
Year after year we come back to the story of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and year after year we are pulled into the familiar dramatic story, and our focus is on all the usual players, Jesus, the religious authorities, Pilate, and Herod.
Perhaps this year we might want to change our focus.
The Apostles and others have been swept up in this new thing and everything seemed to be going well. Their leader was getting a lot of attention. The reviews were good.
It’s good to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing.
Sure, he attacked the money changers in the temple and has confronted a lot of authorities about things this week. That was worrying at the time, but he seems to have come through that bigger and stronger than before.
Thursday night they had a nice meal for the inner circle. He said some things that they did really understand. Some of them sounded kind of ominous, but he could be like that. Give it a little time. He would keep explaining it different ways until they got it. That's how it always was.
What’s better after a big meal than to take a walk over to the park and just hang out for a while.
And then the bottom falls out.
He’s taken away, and out of fear they scattered. If they stayed together they were more likely to be recognized and pulled into the same terror that was about to consume their leader. The power coming after them was something they could not fight. It came out of nowhere. They couldn't protect each other, so they scattered. They were safer apart. They scattered into the night.
Year after year we come back to the story of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and year after year we are pulled into the familiar dramatic story, and our focus is on all the usual players, Jesus, the religious authorities, Pilate, and Herod.
Perhaps this year we might want to change our focus.
The Apostles and others have been swept up in this new thing and everything seemed to be going well. Their leader was getting a lot of attention. The reviews were good.
It’s good to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing.
Sure, he attacked the money changers in the temple and has confronted a lot of authorities about things this week. That was worrying at the time, but he seems to have come through that bigger and stronger than before.
Thursday night they had a nice meal for the inner circle. He said some things that they did really understand. Some of them sounded kind of ominous, but he could be like that. Give it a little time. He would keep explaining it different ways until they got it. That's how it always was.
What’s better after a big meal than to take a walk over to the park and just hang out for a while.
And then the bottom falls out.
He’s taken away, and out of fear they scattered. If they stayed together they were more likely to be recognized and pulled into the same terror that was about to consume their leader. The power coming after them was something they could not fight. It came out of nowhere. They couldn't protect each other, so they scattered. They were safer apart. They scattered into the night.
As Thursday night became Friday the terror continued. Alone or in twos and threes they would wander close enough to see what the terror was doing. They needed to witness what was being done to their leader. They needed to understand what might happen to them and try to figure out what it meant. But always alone, or in twos and threes. Getting too close could draw the attention of the terror, and they too could be consumed.
By late Friday afternoon, it was impossible to believe that they would ever be together again.
As this pandemic progresses, we’re all forced to keep our distance so that it doesn’t consume us, our family, our friends, and our communities. We want to gather together and feel the warmth and safety that brings when we’re scared. But this time, that might make the terror notice and come for us.
And like the Apostles so long ago, it can be hard to believe that soon, we’ll all gather together again, the world will change, and a whole new journey will begin.
As this pandemic progresses, we’re all forced to keep our distance so that it doesn’t consume us, our family, our friends, and our communities. We want to gather together and feel the warmth and safety that brings when we’re scared. But this time, that might make the terror notice and come for us.
And like the Apostles so long ago, it can be hard to believe that soon, we’ll all gather together again, the world will change, and a whole new journey will begin.
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