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A THIN THREAD
OF HOPE
By Erwin Bourne—August 16, 2002
Too ashamed to ask forgiveness, yet too loyal to give
up. Too guilty to be counted in, but too faithful to
be counted out. I guess we’ve all been there. When
Jesus was apprehended in the garden, according to
Matthew 26:56 “all the disciples forsook him, and
fled.” There is something striking in the simple fact
that the disciples got together again.
Have you ever wondered what the disciples did that
weekend? Did they stay in pairs or small groups or
alone? Have you wondered what they thought. “We had
to run!. They would have killed us all!” Where were
they when the sky turned black? Were they near the
temple when the curtain ripped? Or were they near a
cemetery when the graves opened? Or did any of them
even dare to sneak back up to the hillside and stand
at the edge of the crowd and stare at the three
silhouettes on the hill?
Why did the disciples come back? What made them
return? In part, it had to be rumors of the
resurrection. They had learned to expect Jesus to do
the unusual. They had seen him forgive a woman who
had five husbands. They’d seen him scare the devils
out of some demoniacs and put the fear of God in some
churchgoers. You don’t just pack up the bags and go
home after three years like that. Maybe he really had
risen from the dead.
There was something in their hearts that wouldn’t let
them live with their betrayal. When Jesus needed them,
they had scampered, and now they were having to deal
with the shame. They gravitated to that same upper
room that contained the sweet memories of broken bread
and symbolic wine. For the original twelve, there
were only two options—surrender or suicide.
So they came back. Each with a scrapbook full of
memories and a thin thread of hope. There they sat.
What little conversation there is focuses on the
rumors of an empty tomb. Someone sighs. Someone
locks the door. Someone shuffles his feet. And just
when the gloom gets good and thick, just when their
wishful thinking is falling victim to logic, just when
someone says, “How I’d give my immortal soul to see
him one more time,” a familiar face walks through the
wall.
What a beautiful ending—and beginning!! This passage
is pregnant with hope. A repentant heart is all he
demands. Come out of the shadows. Be done with
hiding. A repentant heart is enough to summon the
Son of God himself to walk through the walls of guilt
and shame. All we have to do is come back. “No
wonder they call him the Savior.” By Max Lucado
By Erwin Bourne
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