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Waiting

                             Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (Luke 23:56)

                Can you imagine? Everything you’ve believed, crushed. All that’s left is to give Him a proper burial. What was done earlier wasn’t enough. They got everything together but had to wait. Not only that, those who had touched His body would be unclean for seven days. Any further involvement with the Passover was out of the question. All they could do is wait, think, mourn, and pray.

                And what of Jesus? We don’t know everything that went on during those three days. Maybe He was busy. But maybe He also had to wait, as He’d been waiting since the world was created. He was almost done with the creative task of providing salvation to those He’d created.

                Waiting is hard, but it’s a regular part of all our lives. This time of year is torture for gardeners in my area, because we’re waiting for the temperature to finally stop plummeting into the 30s and 20s. I made a list of what should be planted when in my area, so on the one hand, I feel entirely on top of the situation. On the other, it’s going to be another 6-8 weeks before I can plant some stuff outside. It’s a silly example, but I can understand the sense of “almost there…” but still having to wait. But that’s what today is about: waiting

                But the women didn’t just sit and wail or weep. They got the spices ready. That would have taken time, money, and effort.  There would have been denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and some form of acceptance. They’d been wrong. They’d been fooled. They’d been betrayed. And in Peter’s case, he’d done the betraying. It would have been devastating, and yet, they had duties. The emotions would have been to raw for them to think about what He said. Sometimes we look back at what happened and wonder how they didn’t understand. Why couldn’t they trust enough to wait to see what happened next?

                Can We? Do we? Do we wait like them? Or like Jesus?

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