The Disciples on Easter

On Easter, I can't help but think about the disciples.  They were devastated on Friday, when Jesus died.  Yes, Jesus had hinted that He would rise again from the dead, but I don't think the disciples really caught on.  So, we find them scattered, grieving on Friday night.

Then Sunday comes.  Peter and John enter the tomb, after being alerted by Mary and Mary.  I can just imagine the look on their faces.  Imagine walking into the tomb, and finding it EMPTY.  I wonder.  After the initial shock, did they look at each other, and say "oh, so THAT'S what he meant"?  

I'm reminded, as I think about the disciples, of what God showed me a few years ago with a tapestry, or a quilt.  On Friday, all they could see was the mess on the back side of the quilt.  All of the loose threads, the back side of the seams.  They didn't see, didn't realize, the big picture.  Then, on Sunday, they see the front side of the quilt, the beautiful side.  That's where my comment in the last paragraph comes from.

Psalm of David

If you were to ask me what my favourite book of the Bible is, I would answer Psalms.  Not one of the Gospels, or one of the prophets, or Revelation, or Paul's letters to the churches, but Psalms.  Why?  Because of David's raw emotions.

David was no stranger to suffering.  He was pursued by Saul, and in fact, Saul had signed a death warrant, so to speak.  

Many of the psalms open with David's raw emotion.  He was desperate.  Sometimes he felt abandoned by God, I'm sure.  He cried out to God to rescue him.  

But, then, half way through the psalm, something shifts.  David turns to praise.  Why.  How is it that David, in the midst of his despair, could turn to praise?  Because He knew the One.  He knew that God is in control.  He knew that God knows what He's doing.  And he found comfort in that truth, I think.  And that comfort?  Drew him to God.  I wonder, though, if there's more going on here?  David is known as a man after God's own heart.  I suspect that, in the midst of David's suffering, God showed up.  God spoke to David, and reminded him.  And David?  When God reminded David of His promises, that reminder caused David to turn to praise.