The Quiet Before the Storm

Over the years of hearing this Gospel passage, I am always left unsettled. It stirs a sense of foreboding - the quiet before the storm. As the word spreads about Jesus performing miracles, encountering “unclean” people and doing so on the sabbath, He becomes more of a target. It is one of the Gospel stories that reads like a thriller for me. Those in charge are threatened and they start to devise a plan to prevent the upheaval of the status quo. Instead of capitalizing on the publicity, Jesus leaves town. Although not strictly going into hiding, He is aware that the time is not yet right for Him to be fully revealed. At other times in the Gospels Jesus silences demons from revealing his true identity as the Son of God. A great deal of emphasis is placed on the fact that the timing of His arrest and crucifixion is not a random event. Below the surface of social and civil upheaval, the supernatural world is stirring with the impending revelation that Jesus is in fact the Son of God, who will die for the world. From a literary standpoint, the author of the Gospel has created a heightened sense of drama that helps direct our attention to this monumental event. From a spiritual standpoint, I feel a strong pull toward Jesus and the imminence of what following Him will bring. I imagine what it would be like as one of the disciples traveling with him. I am scared - almost terrified of the trouble that seems inevitable. I really try to put myself in that mental and emotional place, imagining how it would feel to be eating a meal the evening after arriving in Ephraim. I find myself trying to decide: am I all in? Is it too late to run away and disassociate myself? Am I going to commit to Him and all that is coming? My answer right now is yes; but, I know that even up to His crucifixion, I might still vacillate on my allegiance to Him. I imagine that it is a daily struggle, one that will become more intense each day we near the pivotal moment of his crucifixion. As a 21st century Christian I face a spiritual form of this inner conflict and it sometimes leaves me feeling anxious and hopeless, but then I remember that the story doesn’t end with the crucifixion. As theologian Frederick Beuchner shared: “the worst thing is never the last thing.”

Author: Max von Schlehenried, Science Department