Jesus was crucified yesterday. Only the night before the disciples had shared a meal with him. Fear had kept most of them in hiding. I think most of them returned to the upper room. I'm sure there was no sleep. I'll bet some paced while others checked the windows and doors to see if a mob was coming for them. I can see a couple of the disciples retelling what they had seen at that awful place. Golgotha just the name was terrifying the skull. quite an appropriate name for the place where criminals were executed.
I'm sure they remembered Jesus' words about leaving them and preparing a place for them. I bet even now His words were racing through their minds as they struggled to understand what all this meant. I can just see them praying for hours and asking the Father for direction. I'll bet the Silence was deafening.
We have to remember they didn't have the Holy Spirit yet. There was no still small voice reassuring them that all was well. There was no Bible laying on the coffee table. No voice directing them what step to take next. No feelings of comfort or encouragement. Their world was dark but worst of all it was silent.
I don't know about you, but I don't like silent. I like noise. We play the TV or radio all day just to have the noise. I loved the busyness and noise of the house when our Susan was still living at home. Nope I don't like silence, and I really don't like silence from God. I'm sure we've all experienced those times of Silence. I know of a few times when I've been praying for something and asking for direction, or confirmation, or even intervention, and all I hear is silence.
God has taught me that's when I need to Trust Him. It's not easy, and it's definitely not fun. Waiting in silence. Yuck. This is the same thing the disciples were doing. Waiting in the Silence.
It's the Sabbath, and that's good. No one will be thinking about them, not yet. they still have time to make plans to leave, but where would they go. Should they all just head for their respective homes? They had left parents and jobs. They had no money. Not enough to make a journey. Should they split up. What should they do. Silence. Maybe they would hear some news from the city soon. The women had made plans to go and prepare Jesus' body for burial. They hadn't had time on Friday. Maybe they could find out something that would be useful in their decision making. I bet they discussed this, and decided that no one would bother the women.
So they waited, In the dark of that upper room. In the silence.
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