Before They Knew Sunday was Coming

 Easter is coming up Sunday.

I always think about the Friday before, and what a horrible day it was.

Jesus, The Christ, had suffered physically more than most of us will ever know. He suffered spiritually more than any of us will ever know.

The people who loved Him suffered too. His mother, watching the agony He went through. His disciples, afraid, ashamed, confused, they too in agony over this horrific scene.

How could this have happened? Didn't He say He was The Christ? Didn't He say, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father?"

If that was true, how could this have happened? How could He have allowed Himself to be captured and tortured and slain?

Had they all been wrong about Him after all?

True, He had said as much. He said He must suffer and die. But they hadn't really wanted to hear that, you know? They focused more on what He did - all those miracles - and the kingdom He talked about.

They wanted to hear the good stuff. Forget the hard stuff. After all, God is love, right? And Jesus did all sorts of stuff that no one else could do...and wasn't that enough?

But now....they were hidden upstairs in a locked room, fearful for their lives. Every noise was imagined Roman soldiers coming for them.

They grieved, and grieved deeply. But they were also ticked off. How could He do this to them? How could He have left them...alone and with no hope?

Where was He?

The women in Jesus' life apparently feared less, or had less to fear...for they went to the tomb to better prepare His body.

And to their utter dismay, the body was gone. The stone rolled back, discarded. The burial clothes were rumpled, the face cloth neatly folded, and laid aside.

Someone had stolen His body! Where were the Roman guards who were to prevent this?

Where could He be?

And then one of those miracles happened...young men, dressed in white, encased in bright light told them not to be alarmed. "You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth. He is not here. He is risen!"

And then the world was changed forever.

He is risen! He is risen, indeed!