Not So 并非如此
Dexu Xia
All those who knew him . . . stood at a distance, watching these things. Luke 23:49
“I wanted somehow to make it not so,” lamented the man, eulogizing a friend who died young. His words gave poignancy to humanity’s ageless heart-cry. Death stuns and scars us all. We ache to undo what can’t be undone.
The longing to “make it not so” might well describe how Jesus’ followers felt after His death. The Gospels say little about those awful hours, but they do record the actions of a few faithful friends.
Joseph, a religious leader who secretly believed in Jesus (see John 19:38), suddenly found the courage to ask Pilate for Jesus’ body (Luke 23:52). Ponder for a moment what it would take to remove a body from a grisly crucifixion and tenderly prepare it for burial (v. 53). Consider too the devotion and bravery of the women who stayed with Jesus every step of the way, even to the tomb (v. 55).
These followers weren’t anticipating a resurrection; they were coming to terms with grief. The chapter ends without hope, merely a somber, “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes [to embalm Jesus’ body]. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment” (v. 56).
Little did they know the Sabbath intermission was setting the stage for history’s most dramatic scene. Jesus was about to do the unimaginable. He would make death itself “not so.”
Where do you turn for comfort when the worst happens? How do you live as though the resurrection is real?
Today, Father, I pause to remember how it must have been that day between Your Son’s crucifixion and His resurrection. I’m so grateful that He’s reversed sin’s curse for me.
还有一切与耶稣熟识的人⋯⋯，都远远地站着看这些事。—路加福音23章49节
一名男子追悼他英年早逝的朋友时说：“多么希望结果并非如此！”这话道出人类亘古的哀痛。死亡令人震惊、受创。我们承受锥心之痛，想要挽回那不可能逆转的结果。
渴望“结果并非如此”，或许贴切地形容了门徒在耶稣受难之后的感受。福音书对这段悲恸时刻的描述不多，但仍记载几个忠心跟随耶稣的人所采取的行动。
一位只敢在暗中相信耶稣的宗教领袖约瑟（参阅约翰福音19章38节），突然鼓起勇气向彼拉多请求领取耶稣的遗体（路加福音23章52节）。试想将耶稣的身体从可怖的十架上取下，然后细心裹好准备埋葬，这需要多大的勇气（53节）。再想想那些妇女的忠诚和勇敢，她们一直在受难现场伴随着耶稣，直到祂被安葬在坟墓里（55节）。
这些跟随者并未预期耶稣会复活，他们正带着悲伤尝试接受耶稣已死的事实。这一章的结尾毫无盼望，只有抑郁和哀伤，那些妇女们“就回去，预备了香料香膏”，好膏抹耶稣的身体。“她们在安息日，便遵着诫命安息了”（56节）。
然而，她们不知道安息日这天的歇息时间，正酝酿着史上最不可思议的事件。耶稣将要做出人意料的大事，使死亡的结果“并非如此”！
当最糟的事发生时，你会转向何处寻求慰藉？
你的生活如何表明耶稣确实复活了？
天父，当我思想耶稣从受死到复活
这段时间的事情时，我满心感谢祢，
因为祂已彻底除去罪对我的咒诅。