Day 4: What Happened on the Fourth Day?

 

Wednesday:  Where’s Jesus?

             The Scripture is silent as to Jesus’ activities on Wednesday of Passover week. After the events of Tuesday, Jesus was probably emotionally and physically drained.  Any human would have been.  I’ve been in teaching situations where I have taught for a full day with only a few breaks, and I know how exhausting it can be.  In addition to the teaching, Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees had to be mentally exhausting, so Jesus likely needed a break for several reasons.  Based on what we know about His ministry and what He was facing in the coming days, I think there are three possibilities of how He spent that day.

            First, as I said, He was probably emotionally and physically exhausted.  We know that God never sleeps but we sometimes forget that Jesus was also human.  His body would have needed time to be replenished so that He could face what lay ahead.  As a human being, He needed sleep just like us.  In Mark 4: 38, we find Him sleeping in the boat while the disciples guided the boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Each of us has probably experienced those times after an exhausting day when we just want to sleep.  Jesus may have needed that same kind of rejuvenation.

            However, I doubt that Jesus would have taken the entire day to rest.  He was probably more akin to the “type A” personality who just can’t sit still that long.  Besides, He had more important things to do than sleep.  His ministry experiences indicate to me that perhaps the most important thing He did that day was to spend time with His Father.  Time and again, the Scripture tells us that He withdrew to a solitary place or went up to a mountainside to pray.  He has set a wonderful example for us.  He was God in the flesh, but He still had a desperate need to talk with His Father.  If only we had that same kind of desperate need to spend time with God!

            Finally, knowing that time was short, He probably still had much to teach His disciples.  Again, the Scripture tells us that He often withdrew with His disciples to pray and to teach.  It was in one of those moments that He taught them the Lord’s prayer.  We don’t know what “final thoughts” He might have given them that day but as they looked back on it, I’m sure it had to have been a very special memory for them.  Spending time with God should be just as precious to us.  No matter how long we have been a Christian, He still has lessons to teach us.  Learning those lessons can only come when we welcome Him into those teaching moments.

            We don’t know for sure what Jesus did on Wednesday, but I’m confident that He didn’t spend it hibernating.  He needed rest but He also needed the power and comfort of His Father.  He also knew that the challenges ahead for His disciples would be great.  They needed all that He could teach them.  Like Jesus, we also need the power and comfort of our Father, and we need to learn all that He has to teach us.  Maybe we need to take a day where only the Father knows what we are doing, a day spent just resting in Him, experiencing His comfort and strength, and learning what He has to teach us.

            When was the last time you spent a “Wednesday” like Jesus?

Mark 4: 38

Matthew 14: 13 & 23

Luke 4: 41; 5: 16; 6: 12

Mark 9: 30 – 31

Luke 9:10 & 18

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