Approaching Easter ~ The loss

When Jesus died it was the Jewish day of preparation (the day before the sabbath ~ on the sabbath, Jews do no work ~ including burying the dead) Jesus' body was taken down from the cross and because there was no other tomb near by they laid Jesus in a tomb in the Garden belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph was a secret follower of Christ because he feared the Jews.
Matthew tells us that Pilate ordered guards to seal the tomb and to stand guard. He had heard that Jesus has said "I will rise again in three days" Pilate did not want the disciples to take the body to make it look as though Jesus had risen.

I wonder how Jesus friends and family felt. Over the last few days they had watched Jesus endure horrendous treatment and then to saw him die on the cross. They witnessed his anguish and pain. They'd barely had time to put his body into strips of cloth and into the tomb before the sabbath.
They must have been afraid that Pilate, Caiaphas and the other chief priests and people of the law would not be satisfied with having "got" Jesus. What if they came after the followers of Jesus too. Perhaps they hid away keeping a "low profile"

To loose a friend is a very painful and hard event to go through. To see the empty place at the table, to think ' I must tell him, about it' an then realise that you can't.
We are not told what the disciples did over this time. We do know that Mary the mother of Jesus went with John and was then cared for in his home. I think this must have been a comfort to both of them. When you loose someone it's always a comfort to talk to other people who also knew them and share your loss.

Although Jesus said he would rise again in three days time, and they had witnessed him giving life back to Lazarus and Jairus' daughter and Peters mother in law they would have had doubts that a dead person would rise on his own. On the third day women went to the tomb to anoint the body with spices and if they were expecting Jesus prophesy to come true they'd have had more expectation and wouldn't have felt the need to spice the body.

Father God
To loose a loved one is a devastating experience
Facing each new day is so difficult when you feel the pain
Let the void they have left in my life be filled with happy memories
Wrap your loving arms around me
With your help I can get through each day
Help me let go of the pain.
Amen