I remember, at the beginning of each year in High School, how good it felt to have the class schedule written out so that, when the bell rang, you’d know what subject was next, and where you had to go. That change of classes took careful planning, as we had designated ‘up’ staircases and ‘down’ staircases to prevent bodily injuries and textbook avalanches, during the three-minute manic charge of teens changing classes. We had Hall Monitors whose job it was to write up any student left in the hallway when the next bell sounded. Teachers were instructed to lock their door when the beginning class bell went off. It was administrative-inspired bedlam! But back to the reassuring schedule. Whether you looked forward to the next class with dread or eagerness, the knowing was somehow anchoring. That treasured piece of paper probably got consulted a thousand times before the year was over.
There was no such reassuring schedule of events available for Jesus’ disciples. Today marks the forty-third day since Jesus’ Resurrection and now the third day of tense waiting since he returned to his Father. Disappointingly, he left without the big and much-anticipated overthrow of Rome’s oppressive presence with the simultaneous re-establishment of the sovereign Kingdom of Israel. The last thing Jesus told them was that they were to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Gift of the Father that he had promised. But as to when this would be, what this would be exactly, and how they would know when it finally was given, they were clueless. Waiting in this void was torture. (An anonymous quote reads: ‘Sometimes the wait is longer because the blessing is greater’).
Scriptural prophecy pointed to many things which Jesus had fulfilled. The members of the group who could read or could simply remember Synagogue readings, probably delved back into those stories and writings to see if there were any clues as to what they might be expecting. That exercise may or may not have been fruitful, but it would have been enough to occupy a few disciples while the group sat around – waiting. Meal preparation and meal times were welcome distractions from the sheer inertia of knowing no clear, next steps.
Looking forward to waiting ‘with’ the disciples tomorrow, 10 AM, 3 PM UK. PD
Don graduated from Regent University in 1988 and moved to France for seven years, coming back to the US briefly to marry Sue in 1990. The work in France included working in a Christian School and helping plant a church before returning in 1995. He’s been pastor of Peninsula Vineyard since 1999. He enjoys counseling, especially married couples, traveling back to France (with Sue), reading, doing Sudoku puzzles and sleuthing out good, dark chocolate. Don serves as the senior pastor of the Vineyard Church Peninsula, in Newport News, Virginia.