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Gospel: Matthew 17: 22-27
As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
And they were overwhelmed with grief.
When they came to Capernaum,
the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said,
“Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?”
“Yes,” he said.
When he came into the house, before he had time to speak,
Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?”
When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him,
“Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up.
Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“And they were overwhelmed with grief.”
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Jesus has just told his disciples – once again – the greatest news ever told. “The Son of Man…will be raised on the third day!”
Why, then, are they “overwhelmed with grief?” Where’s the bad news in that???
The disciples seemed to have missed all that Jesus told them; they focused on what he said before the promise of the resurrection. Prior to being raised, Jesus must be killed.
That’s what caused their grief.
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Often, we have similar reactions when faced with bad news or grief.
We lose our job; we’re rejected from our top college; a relationship ends; a loved one returns to the Lord.
Bad things happen and, like the disciples, we sit and wonder why Jesus would allow it. Fear and disappointment fill our hearts to the point that we stop believing there’s life – or good things – to come.
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Jesus wasn’t blind to the disciples’ disappointment or lack of faith. But he continued moving towards Jerusalem – towards his cross – anyways, because he hoped that after witnessing his resurrection that they would come to believe.
It wasn’t easy. Jesus had to appear to them for “forty days and forty nights” in order to transform their hearts, lifting them out of the valley of disbelief and grief.
But eventually, they came back to life. Then the disciples went off to change the world.
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Perhaps we can all learn from their story. When we feel “overwhelmed by grief,” remember that there is life beyond that moment, even if we cannot see it.
Faith is trusting that God is with us – and will always bring us from darkness into light.
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Image credits: (1) Looking Beyond Competition, LinkedIn (2) Christ Carrying the Cross, Giorgione and Titian, Prado (3) Pure in Heart America