It seems fitting, seeing as we are also waiting for the end of this epidemic. Waiting for health updates of those we worry about. Waiting to visit friends and family. Waiting for the lifting of restrictions. Waiting for churches and businesses to re-open. Waiting to receive the Eucharist. Some types of "waiting" are more painful than others, require more patience and cost more of our emotional strength.
But you know, today we also remember the years that Jesus waited for us. As eager as Christ was to save us, it's a wonder He took as long as He did in order to begin. He waited 30 years before beginning his public ministry, but I can just imagine him as a kid, asking Mary and Joseph - Can I redeem them today, Mom? No, beloved child; today's not the day either.
But even that waiting was nothing, because God "waited" [2] through millennia, slowly revealing Himself to us. The Easter Vigil offers us a brief glimpse at salvation history - "the great rescue operation" - Creation; Fall; Flood; Sacrifice; Covenant; Kingdom; Exile. We see the way God formed a people, Israel, who would seek after His heart and image His love to the nations. But it took ages, and we can't conceive of the reasons God determined to bring about our redemption the way He did. God waited for the right moment, knowing His chosen people would turn away again and again, and He always calling them back - reminding them of His love for them.
We remember the centuries Israel waited for the Messiah - the centuries after the kingdom split. The ten Northern tribes captured and scattered. The Southern tribe of Judah exiled to Babylon, the Temple destroyed, and the line of kings shattered. The rebuilding of the Temple, but without God's presence - without the Ark. Waiting through conqueror after conqueror. [3]
And now, we know how the story ends - Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, who takes the sin of the world unto Himself. He performed signs and wonders, taught, preached, cast out demons, and forgave sins, all while proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Through all this, His ministry interminably led Him to Jerusalem; wherein He was ultimately condemned to death for blasphemy - for declaring Himself the Son of God. He carried the weight of all our guilt to Calvary and offered His life for our sake out of love for you and me.
But even that wasn't the end, because tonight we celebrate the monumental and unthinkable fact of His resurrection - the Empty Tomb. He defeated sin and death, taking on the worst of all - and each - of us, swallowing it up and showing only His Mercy in its place. Incredibly, God shows us that He redeems all the broken bits of ourselves, making them beautiful.
But still, we wait. And He waits. We may know the end of the story - Satan defeated, our resurrections, a New Heavens and New Creation, every tear wiped away for all eternity - but we haven't reached the end yet. We are still living in the midst of a story that continues until God only knows when. He continues to call us to repentance, to salvation, to receiving His life into our very being.
So here we are, on Holy Saturday, remembering all the waitings that have been, are, and will be; knowing what will come tomorrow, but knowing that we are not yet there.
Let us continue to wait.
Waiting... like I just wrote in your Thursday blog...still waiting.
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