Church of the Holy City

We Had Hoped

We Had Hoped
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
Good Friday, 2014

Mark 15:1-41

I would like us to try to imagine what the crucifixion would have been like for the followers of Jesus. This exercise may be very hard for us. We know of the resurrection. And we have 2,000 years of history behind the Christian Church. We are nothing like the ancient followers of Jesus just after the crucifixion.
Just a few days before, Jesus entered Jerusalem as a Divine Man, and received a ruler’s welcome from the people. Now the people had turned against Him. It was a mob in Jerusalem that shouted for Jesus’ death. Mark tells us that, “The chief priests stirred up the crowd” (Mark 15:11). And these were the very people who rejoiced to see Him arrive just a few days earlier. We are told that the priests had stirred up the crowds. So we have the Israelites authorities finally taking tangible action against Jesus, as they had planned all through the Gospels. And even the rulers representing Rome, who tried to be indifferent to the whole matter, even the Roman rulers had pronounced the death sentence upon Jesus. The common people, the rulers of the Israelites, and even the powers of Rome had all turned against Jesus. They thought they had silenced Him for ever. And it certainly looked as if they had.
Let’s try to imagine how this must have looked to Jesus’ followers. All through Jesus’ ministry, Jesus had performed wondrous miracles and showed a miraculous love that the people hadn’t seen anywhere. There were indeed signs that Jesus was walking a thin line with regard to the religious authorities and even with the crowds. People in Jesus’ home town were indignant at His claim to divine authority and tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29). And at least once before His trial, the religious authorities tried to stone Jesus for claiming to be divine (John 8:59). But for the most part, the crowds were amazed, overjoyed, and were heartfelt followers of Him. Jesus’ followers also thought that He would deliver Israel from Roman rule and make Israel into the most powerful nation in the world and a light for all the gentiles. They saw all the miracles He did, and hoped that this indicated that Jesus was that Messiah who would restore Israel.
Now all these hopes were dashed to the ground. The mob that had adored and followed Jesus had turned against Him. His followers were dispersed. The religious authorities had won and apparently overcome this prophet of love and healing. The kingdom of Israel had not been restored. It was all over. An indication as to how much grief the apostles knew is recorded in the Gospel of Luke. Two Apostles express their grief at all that had just recently happened. They say of Jesus,
He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel (Luke 24:19-21).
After all the high hopes that Jesus’ ministry had inspired in the people, all had come to this. Remember, I am talking about the time just after Jesus’ death, and before His resurrection. All the hopes of the apostles were broken. Jesus was dead; the crowd turned against Him; the Pharisees and priests won. It was over.
Perhaps there is another aspect to all this. I think that there was also confusion. It didn’t make sense. How could all the wonders that Jesus had done, how could all His beautiful preaching end up like this? Where was all the power and wonder that Jesus had previously shown? Could it actually be that this was it? Was this all it was going to come to? In addition to grief, I think that confusion was also what the followers were feeling.
Thus far I have been discussing this distress from the point of view of the apostles. But there are some other voices that don’t often get mentioned. There were women who followed Jesus, too. At the crucifixion they are mentioned. Of them, Mark says, “In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs” (Mark 15:41). Two of these women are mentioned by name. There is Mary Magdalene, and Mary who is mother of James the Younger, Joses, and Salome. And we are told that “Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there” (Mark 15:41). Although they do not receive much mention in the Gospels, we see that among Jesus’ followers were many women.
These women cared for Jesus’ needs and no doubt were taught by Jesus along with the men. In Luke we are told that Mary, sister of Martha, sat at Jesus’ feel, listening to what He said (Luke 10:39). These women continued to care for Jesus even in His death. They go to the tomb after the Sabbath is over to anoint Jesus’ body with spices.
Did all these events strike the women in the same way as the men? I ask because of a short line in the birth story of Jesus. After the shepherds tell everyone of the wondrous vision of the choir of angels and the words told them from on high, everyone is amazed. But we are told that Mary, Jesus’ mother, had a different reaction. A contrasting reaction. Luke tells us, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
The Bible doesn’t tell us much about the many women who followed Jesus. We don’t know if their understanding of Jesus’ teachings was different than that of the men. Had they also treasured up all these things and pondered them in their hearts? Had they heard and understood Jesus’ words about His resurrection after His death? We don’t know.
But it was the women who first saw the risen Jesus. It was the women who first saw the stone rolled away. It was the women who first saw the angels who told them Jesus had risen. And this was because they went to care for Jesus body in death, even as they had cared for Him in life.
The women, though, were amazed at these things and ran to tell the others. They were not believed. The apostles were too confused and overcome with grief. We do not always understand the things that happen to us and to others. We, too, can lose hope in the things of religion. And often we can despair as to God’s governance in the world. I believe that in these times, our hopes will find understanding as time passes. The problem the apostles faced was not understanding Jesus’ teachings about His death and resurrection. Their hopes were in a Messiah of their own understanding. Our faith is only and always finite. There are falsities and fallacies in our best understanding of faith. And such a faith must run into contradictions when it is tested by reality. It is my belief, and my faith, that we will come to understand, when things don’t seem right at first. It is my belief and my faith that behind all the hard things we see, there is a loving God. It is my belief and my faith that we will see. For now we see in a mirror darkly. In time we will see face to face. Now we know in part, in time we will understand fully. In the meanwhile, as we go about time and life here in this world, perhaps we can best proceed as did Mary. With what we do know of God and spirituality, perhaps we best proceed by treasuring up all these things and pondering them in our heart.

PRAYER

Lord, we are aware that we can be inconstant in our devotion to you. While we want to turn to you always, we are aware of the presence of sin in our lives. The crowds in ancient Israel both favored you and turned against you. The inconstancy of human hearts led you to a horrible death. Yet despite our capacity to turn away from you, we know that you never turn from us. You forgive, you continue to call to us, and you never cease in your efforts to bring us into holy communion with you. We give you thanks for your unfailing love. We praise you for your constancy in turning yourself to the human race.