Have you ever had an incredible dream- a dream of valor, beauty, strength, romance? Have you ever dreamed of accomplishing something great? Have you dreamed of finishing a task well, putting all your nay-sayers to shame? Have you ever had an incredible, hopeful dream that died? I have. It's like a deep winter settles over your heart. A poet called it "a dark night of the soul".
On Good Friday the disciples of Jesus saw their dreams crumble. They'd dreamed of glory, freedom from their Roman oppressors, the elevation of their cause. All these dreams were tied to Jesus, and they died a hard swift death when Jesus was arrested, tried, convicted, beaten and nailed to a cross. Have you ever been betrayed by a friend, forgotten by loved ones, cheated, fired, disregarded?
Jesus, who had fed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and fish. Jesus, who caused the blind to see and the lame to walk. Jesus, who had called the dead to life again. This Jesus was dead.
Have you ever asked God why He allows dreams to die? Years ago I heard a woman do a devotion on the prophet Isaiah and how it was only after his king died that he was able to see God high and lifted up. Maybe when our dreams die it is our wake up call to finally seek God; to finally see Him as He truely is. The disciples thought Jesus's body would turn to dust and their dreams would turn to ashes. They would try to forget and move on. Maybe sometimes God allows our dreams to die because He has written another story- a better one than we could come up with on our own.
The disciples hid and grieved not knowing that in a short while Jesus, (the Glorious and Resurrected Savior, the Fullness of God), was going to overcome death and prove to them their dreams needed to die. Their dream was too small. Their dreams were of a earthly Kingdom. God's dream was of re-establishing His Kingdom (which will never be shaken or destroyed). These uneducated, scared people became the men God used to alter the course of history.
So if you stand on Good Friday in the rubble of broken dreams, remember, there is a Resurrection Sunday coming!
He believed in God, who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. Romans 4:17
He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Matthew 28:6
