The Isolation We’ll Never Endure

The day the Jewish Messiah was hoisted onto a wooden beam, metal pounded through his skin, was its own kind of quarantine. For the disciples. For Jesus. For the world.

I imagine Jesus’ family weeping. Mary Magdalene, sunken into the dirt with the weight of sorrow. The disciples, in varying states of denial. Surely their master couldn’t be dead.

But with a final word, Jesus confirmed their fears, his body sagging on the wooden beam. And the loneliness that follows is tangible in my spirit. Everyone who loved this God-man was completely and utterly hopeless. And even as I type this, my eyes flood with tears as I put myself in that moment with them.

How could they possibly go on?

Sometimes we feel that same way, even on the other side of the crucifixion. People fail us, accidents derail us. Pandemics shake us to the core. And we wonder: how can we possibly go on?

But this, friends, is where the glorious comparison ends.

In that moment when Jesus was crucified, their Hope was dead. In this moment, our Hope is alive. Where their Joy was suspended, our Joy is resurrected.

So we do not grieve as those without hope (1 Thess. 4:13). Not only do we have a Savior who is alive, but the Bible says that we are alive in Him (Eph. 2:3).

Maybe you don’t feel “alive” today. Maybe, just like the disciples, just like Mary Magdalene, your soul is heaving with sorrow. With uncertainty. With loneliness. With pain.

If that is you, I encourage you to cling to Sunday. By that I mean: remember that (1) your “Friday season” will end and that (2) your Friday season isn’t ultimate.

Last winter, I experienced a unique sadness and hurt I hadn’t been through before. My heart was angry that God had allowed me to get hurt even when I had trusted and followed Him. But more than anything, I remember the panic that rose up in my chest as I walked a wooded path and cried to Jesus. I told Him that I didn’t know if I would be okay. In that moment, I felt so hurt.

But He brought my attention to Lamentations 3:21–a passage that has sense become a deep favorite in this season of my life:

“But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Let those words wash over you today, no matter whether you’re heart is brimming or broken. Our hope goes beyond a job loss and relational loss; it goes beyond loneliness and fatigue; achievement and praise.

Our hope goes beyond all these things because our Hope went beyond Friday.

Jesus was totally isolated so we didn’t have to be cut off from the Father as we deserve. And once Sunday rolled around, all of Creation saw His glory on display as His risen body proved that He is King. And because He is victorious, so are we. We can live in the light of the Sunday resurrection.

He. Is. Risen.

Love,

Han