Three Days Alone were Horrible
They were the loneliest and saddest days of their lives. Their hopes for the future were shattered. Their reason for living was gone. Now the three years seemed like a dream – too good to be true. Memories powerfully flooded their minds. The incredible looks of joy and gratitude on the faces of family members when He healed their child. The laughs of excitement as the children watched the loaves and fishes multiply right before their eyes. Those beautiful times all alone with Him as they walked and talked together. But now He is gone and the disciples are all alone.
Never had they felt so alone. They had memories their friends and families would not appreciate or understand. How could they ever go back and try to be excited about anything else in life? The bottom had dropped out of their world. Crushed. Devastated. Shattered. The worst three days of their lives. The three days that felt like three centuries.
If words to describe their sorrow and aloneness are hard to find, what words could ever be found to even partially describe their jolt of surprise and joy and exhilaration on that Resurrection Lord’s Day? At least those three days of sorrow were preceded by a few warning signals over the weeks leading up to the crucifixion. As devastating as the Cross was, there had been a gradual deterioration in the climate. But it seemed His resurrection blindsided them and caught them totally off guard.
After His resurrection, were they like children who had been separated from their parents for a short period of time? Children often don’t want to let their parents out of their sight and keep clinging to them for fear of losing them again.
The days since His resurrection slipped by so quickly. Now the Risen Christ is with His disciples again and He commissions them to spread the good news to all people everywhere to win people to Christ. And then He gave them a precious promise they must have cherished to the very end.
And Jesus came and said to them,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end
of the age.“
(Matthew 28:18-20)
Dear Child of God, you are not alone. Maybe you are alone physically. But at your deepest level – you are not alone. Spiritually you are not alone. You have His word for it. He said: “Behold, I am with you always.” He didn’t say “I’m with you most of the time but occasionally I will have to take a break and attend to other business.” No, He’s not prone to hyperbole or exaggeration. When He said, ‘I am with you always’ – He meant always! “At all times, in all circumstances, under all conditions and in all places – I am with you. You will never be alone.”
Those three days must have been horribly long but His absence now has passed forever. Child of God, you will never spend even one day alone without Him – He is with you forever.”
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.
Warmly in Christ
Peter Ramsay