Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 17/April/2022]

Have you ever had this reaction to a piece of news? It can happen when something happens which seems either too bad or good to be true. It was the first thing I said when I was told that my father had just been killed by a lorry. It can also be the reaction to good news, like being told I had passed my driving test or that I had been approved to adopt David. Often, I don’t dare to believe in good news until I have some form of proof, like written confirmation.

As Martin was sharing a couple of weeks ago, sometimes we can refuse to believe things that don’t fit our preconceived ideas. The disciples of Jesus were in this position. Jesus told them on at least 3 occasions that he was going to be crucified and then rise again on the 3rd day, but despite all the warnings, the disciples struggled to believe it. I used to find this hard to understand, but now I realise how difficult it is to accept something that is so awful that you just don’t want to believe it will happen. During the first few months of 2020 I didn’t believe that covid was going to affect my life, despite all the news coverage of the situation, first in China and then in Italy and all the dire predictions by the experts. Similarly, I didn’t believe that Russia would invade Ukraine, despite the clear warning signs.

When the good news came on Easter Sunday that Jesus had risen, the disciples found it hard to believe, dismissing the women’s accounts as hysterical nonsense. Later, when Thomas returned to the disciples and was told that they had seen Jesus I am sure he desperately wanted to believe it was true, but he needed proof, which Jesus graciously gave him a week later. He then said to Thomas:

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20 v 29.

Let us enjoy that blessing as we celebrate Easter together.

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