Dear Sister,
I thought this morning about the disciples and the grief they must have been feeling today (all those years ago) as the sun rose and they woke. They lost their teacher, their brother, their hope, their leader, their confidant, their friend, their Lord.
The disciples were often not quite sure of things. They KNEW who Jesus was but their flesh couldn’t understand what God was doing. They often asked Jesus. “What do you mean?”, “Where are you going?”, “How do we get there, again?”, “Is all this really true?”. They knew but they couldn’t understand.
I get that. I often feel that way too.
So, the sun rose and their Lord was dead. They didn’t understand. They were lost, maybe hopeless and definitely Grieving.
Today we know we don’t have to grieve Jesus’ death because we’re on the other side of the resurrection. We know He’s alive.
Somehow, as believers though, our hearts feel the grief today don’t they?
There is a place for our grief today because we know the weight of it and that weight is our sin. Our sins have been handled but we still sin don’t we?
Let us grieve today because of our sins and repent.
James 4:7-10 says: So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners: purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
Sister, this grief that James is talking about is good soil for our hearts to grow in. Just like April rain brings May flowers. How much louder do we laugh after we’ve grieved. How much deeper is our joy on the other side of grief.
The disciple’s grief on this day was grief with an unknown outcome. Our grief on this day is with the knowledge that we will celebrate our risen Lord. We can safely grieve our sin, repent and know that God will renew our lives.
I pray that today, with much expectation for the SON to rise tomorrow, we will put our sins to death and allow the Lord to restore us to new life.
Sincerely,
Jesie Browning