Watch and Wait!

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in church, whether a few days or many years, there is always something new to see.  Something new to think about and to learn.  Some people think that pastors and others who study theology know everything there is to know about scripture and about the Christian life.  They think this because some people act like they do.  However, for the rest of us, the Christian life is one of continual insight and understanding. 

(Now, to be clear, I don’t want you to hear me saying that we are somehow privy to some sort of new revelation from the Holy Sprit that somehow changes or contradicts what has been revealed through God’s Word.  What I am saying is that  God’s Word is so simple that a child can understand it and yet so complex that one could spend an entire lifetime studying it without ever fully grasping its grandeur.)

Today is Good Friday, a day where we remember the fulfillment of God’s promise to redeem the world.  We listen and sing and watch as Jesus makes a brief journey from inside the city of Jerusalem out to a hill where he is nailed to a cross and raised up as the sacrifice for the sin of the entire world. 

It struck me tonight that the life of a Christian is one of constant anticipation.  We are continually watching and waiting.  The church year begins with Advent in December where we watch and wait for the birth of the Christ child while simultaneously watching and waiting for Jesus to return on the last day.  After that we watch and wait during the seasons of Epiphany and Lent as Jesus preaches and teaches and heals, restoring the kingdom of God. 

Then we arrive at Good Friday.  A day of pain and anguish, shame and guilt, death and destruction.  The sins of the entire world from the beginning of the world until the end of time were heaped upon Jesus’ shoulders.  Then with a simple phrase, “It is finished”, the sins were forgiven, the debt wiped clean. 

We leave the service like the disciples likely left the cross, in silence.  Convicted of our sins, sorrowful for the pain and anguish that Christ endured on our behalf.  We return home to watch and wait, anticipating the joy that will flow from the empty tomb on Easter morning. 

In a few weeks we will see Jesus ascend back to his father in heaven.  His mission completed, his glory restored.  He leaves us behind to watch and wait with great anticipation that day when he will return again. 

Come Lord Jesus!


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