Today is Day 46 of our reflections on the gospel of John.  Thank you so much for joining us.  Find us at www.markandkatiemartinez.com.

A Reflection on John 19:38-42

“So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.” (v 42)

Evil is the absence of good. Darkness is the absence of light. This day, today, is the absence of Jesus. The world without its creator is a dark thing, indeed.

The hope and joy of nearly all of the disciples are buried in the tomb with Jesus’ body. Their dreams of something new are crushed, and the future looks bleak.

But Mary does not let her hope die with her Son. She has received a promise that, “he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33).  She clings to this promise with the faith of Abraham, who “(i)n hope he believed against hope… fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:18,21).  So today, though still in mourning, she keeps the flame of hope alive in her heart, and she waits.

There is a tomb in my heart. It is the place where I bury my dashed hopes and dreams and short-lived joys. These are the disappointments, the failures, the false hopes and heartbreaks. They are dead, so I place them in the tomb, roll the stone over, and walk away.

But what if I didn’t? What if I waited, like Mary, trusting in God’s promises and anticipating their fulfillment? What if I allowed myself to mourn these things, yet still hoped for their resurrection? Could I keep watch at the tomb of my soul today, waiting for the Spirit to breathe new life into my dreams? Waiting is its own form of suffering, yet “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us” (Romans 5:3-5).

Prayer: Mary, today I wait with you. May I follow your example and Abraham’s, and let the Spirit produce hope in me as I wait for Jesus to raise me up with Him.

Scripture quotations are from The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©1965, 1966 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved worldwide.