What do we do when the life we have settled into changes? When the mission that we thought was firmly in our grasp seems to dissolve and drift away like sand? Or when we discover that the people around us, the ones we trust, are not who they seemed to be.
Everything on this earth changes, it is a part of the life cycle. Some change is rapid, things happen in the blink of an eye. Other changes are so subtle, that we may not notice the growth, or deterioration of someone we care deeply for, until we are forced to acknowledge it by circumstances.
The Last Supper was a Passover meal. A tradition commemorating the Exodus. A time of reflection and the celebration of freedom. And a fixed moment in time when Judas Iscariot still appeared to be faithful to the other disciples. Even when Jesus told them that they had a betrayer among them, the faithful spoke in disbelief; unable to consider that any of their companions could chose to destroy the man who was transforming the world day by day.
Imagine the utter heart-brokenness of the eleven who saw their lives knocked over and scattered by the actions of someone they considered a brother. The teacher whom they had come to love more than anyone could have imagined stolen from their very grasp. Their mission dissolved with a heartless kiss.
To go from someone who was lost, to one who was chosen to live a deep and intimate way with a man who they had come to realize really was the Son Of God and their Savior, to an outlaw on the run for his life. Especially Peter. He was a leader, he had deeper moments with Jesus; and denied him three times! Talk about having your faith shaken. It was a wonder that he could stand, let alone walk away.
What if even one of them had walked away for good? What if John, or Thomas, or even Peter had slipped away that night and not looked back, vanishing from history like a whisper. Where would I be today, if Jesus had been betrayed by not one, but two or more of His chosen companions?
Thankfully, the eleven remained faithful; even while they were hesitant in obeying Jesus’ call to spread the word throughout the world. These simple, fully flawed and mortal men, whose faith may have been shaken, but was not destroyed. They became new men, by the wondrous work of the Holy Spirit! These Old Testament followers became New Testament participants.
We don’t know exactly where they went that night, or what they did; but I believe that they each fell to their knees, asking for help. I believe they spent long hours praying to God for guidance and protection. And whether it was a prayer to the God of their traditional upbringing, or to The Father of the One Who Changed Their Lives; it was a heartfelt prayer that allowed them to take courage in what they knew to be true. They did not fall back to who they had been; they gathered together for strength and walked into their new, true selves.
They became the men who gave us the truth that allows each of us to be changed for the better.
“Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter, you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.
You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.”
Psalm 71:20-21
Written by
Lynda Kinnard
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