Mourning Has Broken
For many, today is the saddest day of the year.
The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, `After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, `He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." - Matthew 27:62-64
In Matthew's account of the crucifixion of Jesus, on this day, the day after Jesus is laid in the tomb, the Chief Priests are worried that the disciples of Jesus may be plotting a deception.
I cannot imagine them being focused and clear-headed enough to devise such a plot while still mourning the death of their friend and teacher, but Matthew wants us to go there.
It is as though he wants us to focus not on the death, but in the resurrection which is coming tomorrow.
John doesn't do that. In his account, we are left at the tomb after Jesus is laid in it.
He does not prepare us for what will come next. He just lets us be alone with all the emotion and uncertainty the crucifixion brings.
I prefer to be left alone today. In the solitude of the day after, we can try to imagine what the world would have been like for the followers of Jesus who had no way of knowing what was to come.
Those of us who cannot wait for this day of mourning to end will herald in the joy of the resurrection at this evening's Easter Vigil service, possibly the most beautiful service of the year. But the rest of us will let the day ride itself out.
Because we know what tomorrow will bring, we can never really experience what the disciples and followers of Jesus would have felt on this day, but I think it is worth it for us to try.
If we go through this day living in the sorrow and disappointment, allowing ourselves to feel what it is like to have lost hope, we will experience what comes next with all the joy and amazement it brought to the unsuspecting apostles.
More to come...