And He Loved Them Anyway March 31, 2010
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Christian witness, Core Values, Devotional Reflection, holy week.Tags: holy week, Trust
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I cannot read the gospel passages of Jesus’ last week on earth without wondering what must have been running through his mind. I realize that this is pure speculation — nothing more or less. But I feel like it must have been a time of great agitation and ambiguity. I can accept that Jesus reconciled himself to his own impending sacrifice. What catches my attention is how seemingly unready and unprepared the disciples were to carry on Jesus’ work. They were still ambitious, oblivious, obtuse, and naive. They were confused, doubting, duplicitous, and daunted. They weren’t ready to cope with what was to come. At best, they might hang together behind closed doors, hiding. Jesus faced his death not knowing whether his friends could carry on without him. They certainly gave him no indication they were capable. And he loved them anyway. On the night he gave himself up, he sat with his disciples and friends and — in the synoptics — he broke bread and blessed a cup of wine and he offered one last gesture of unity and grace. Peter still didn’t get it. James and John were wrestling with ambition. Thomas, was, well, Thomas. We don’t know much about the others, but it is safe to say that they weren’t far ahead of their compatriots. And Judas, for whatever motivation one might ascribe, betrayed Jesus. Within hours they would abandon him, and in various ways deny him, and he loved them anyway.
