Lenten Blog – Day 40 – The End

You know how it ends, don’t you?

Spoiler alerts ahead.

When you think of popular films you know how “Star Wars IV” ends with the destruction of the Death Star. “Wizard of Oz” ends with Dorothy waking up back at home. “Casablanca” ends with Rick giving up his love so she can live. “Citizen Kane” ends with the revelation of Rosebud. “Sound of Music” ends with the Trapp family escaping the Nazis. ET goes home, Rocky loses (or in the many sequels he wins), James Bond saves the world.

You know how it ends. You can’t shake it. As much as you want to watch these films with fresh eyes you can’t. Good storytelling makes you think that the Nazis are going to capture the Trapp family this time, or that they won’t blow up the Death Star or Dorothy will be stuck in Oz when, in the back of our mind, we know what’s going to happen before the credits roll.

At Christmas it’s important that we find religious themed cards to send out to family and friends. There’s enough Santa stuff to go around and we do like to keep Christ in Christmas. You’ve got the three wise men cards, you’ve got manger cards, you’ve got renaissance Mary holding the infant baby Jesus. You’ve got a smiling baby Jesus with a halo over his head, etc. Lost in the gloss of beauty is the fact that Mary could have been stoned to death for being pregnant. Joseph arrested, possibly killed. They could have been exiled, beaten, shunned and that’s just them - not counting the baby. Remember, there’s a birth involved. I’ve been to two births and they ain’t pretty. There’s screaming and blood and water and waste and placenta and more screaming and more blood and umbilical cords and sweat and tension and fear. It’s. Not. Pretty. As much as Currier & Ives or Rembrandt or Hallmark want to create a beatific Christ birth story, there was some serious stuff going down and any moment it could have gone South very quickly. But we forget in the glow of candles and trees and pine scented wreaths and gifts and family.

Yeah, probably not like this...

You know how it ends, don’t you?

When I think about Easter and the resurrection, I know how it ends. We’re taught how it ends from a young age. I’ve seen this movie before. Christ is tortured, beaten, hung on cross, dies, stabbed, is placed in a tomb and three days later he rises again. Pardon me if there was a spoiler in there somewhere, but I think you know the story. Even if you’re not very religious.

Where my difficulty comes in is that I know how it ends. They don’t. The disciples don’t. Mary Magdalene doesn’t. Even Christ, I don’t think, knows how it’s going to end. He’s pretty certain but he still wants the “cup to pass him by.” Or maybe he just wants to get it over with - the pain and bleeding and stabbing part and just get to the resurrection. Skip all the “real” and get to the “amazing.”

But the disciples, as I discussed in a previous blog, are filled with fear. Their teacher, rabbi, friend and confidant has just been dragged away. Their dreams of power and control slipping away with every torch and scream and cry. They don’t know how it ends.

Peter denies him three times, the others scatter, the women follow him. Judas hangs himself. They don’t know how it ends.

During Holy Week I try to place myself in their clueless shoes and try to not think of the three days following the death on the cross. As much as I want to displace the resurrection to another track in my brain, I can’t help but remember it. I know how it ends. Would I have done the same thing? Would I have rejected him? Would I have run away to hide from the authorities? In all honesty, yeah, I probably would have. Peter denied him three times, I probably would have denied him five or six times.

Overcome with fear, people do many stupid things. Fear causes people to lose their senses. Fear is controlling. You make people afraid, you can control them. People will do things they never thought they’d do if they’re afraid. I always analyze presidential candidates with how much they use fear to get votes. Fear is more powerful than hope and, sadly, fear is more powerful than love. Fear gets to the very core of who we are and when the disciples were afraid, their love and friendship with Jesus was cast away. The miracles meant nothing. So he walked on water, I’m afraid. So he multiplied bread and fish, I’m afraid. So he told me he loved me, washed my feet, broke bread with me, held me, wept with me, laughed with me - I’m afraid.

They don’t know how it ends.

Christians by the very name of calling themselves Christians should not be afraid. They know how the story ends. What are you so afraid of? Death? In Christ’s resurrection we have life. Pain? Suffering? Hurt? Welcome to life, welcome to the world. Peace and comfort are there for the taking, but we run, we hide, we’re afraid.

We know how the story ends. Why are we afraid?

A priest once said about the resurrection: “We don’t know exactly what happened during Christ’s trip to Calvary, his death and resurrection but the ones who turned their back on him turned around and preached his gospel. Something happened where they weren’t afraid any more. Something empowered them. Was it the risen Christ? We don’t know, but something happened.”

They finally figured out how it ends.