Thoughts From Luke - Day 102

                                                             Luke 23:44-56

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
⁵⁰ Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵² Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³ Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴ It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
⁵⁵ The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶ Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.


          How do you respond to disappointment? I don't mean little disappointments like your baseball team lost, but I'm talking about life affecting blows. Maybe you lost a job which you saw as your career path. Maybe your boyfriend/girlfriend dumped you and you saw a future life with them. Or maybe you thought your cancer was gone and you were just told it was back (I have a patient and a best friend who both just received that news) This passage shows how a number of people responded and maybe you can identify with some of them and get some hope from this account in Luke - "for the sun stopped shining".

        First there were the people in verse 48 that were there, I believe, to see the most incredible sight ever and it didn't happen. I don't know exactly what they were expecting to see - maybe the sky opening up, angels coming down and releasing Jesus from the cross. putting a spectacular robe on Him and leading him to the "capitol building" where He would overthrow the government. Maybe they expected a lightening bolt disintegrating the cross and killing those who put Jesus on the cross, and Jesus standing on the ashes in kingly attire. All I know is that they were expecting more than an anticlimactic death just like any other human. They thought He was something special that was going to change their lives and it turns out that He wasn't. They beat their breasts and went away. I think their response to disappointment was depression. It was like - "that plan for the future failed looks like it is time to start over".

         I think the disciples kind of felt that way because in John we read that they went back to fishing. However we also read that they stood at a distance and observed. It was like, "OK, I'm devastated - I never thought things would turn out this way. Yet because we knew Jesus, I'm going to see if something happens even when it is too late." What was He up to here? Several things - First He was tearing the curtain in the temple from the top to the bottom. His death atoned for our sins so that we can have direct access to God. We can have the relationship with God that we were created for back in the Garden. Not by our efforts (tearing from bottom to top, but by His efforts (top to bottom) is our access to God attained. If this disappointment of losing Jesus didn't take place, no one could have forgiveness of sins. Not only that, secondly, Jesus says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” What is He saying? I think this is pointing to the fact that Jesus was trusting the Father to resurrect Him in three days. He was saying I gave up my life, I'm entrusting You to give it back again". What did His death do for mankind? While people were beating their breasts while they left, Jesus was making a way to defeat the grave. He was bringing about eternal life!

        You see, when we are disappointed that things didn't turn out the way we thought they should have turned out, or like if we were God, how we would have done things - take heart! If you know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him, He is up to something (Rom. 8:28) Don't lose all hope, just observe from a distance and maybe in this lifetime but certainly in the next, you will see how our disappointments are turning out for His glory and your good.