For some reason as I’ve been pondering this last week of Jesus’ life, the word listening popped into consciousness. After the group arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus knew that the conspirators against him were joining forces and his time was close to the end.
The gospels devote a significant amount of space to this last week. They show Jesus teaching his closest followers in earnest. They listen, but they question. They still don’t get his point.
Jesus had an interesting way of teaching. He told them much. But he expected them to also learn through experience and through opening themselves to the Spirit. He didn’t train them in what was going to happen so that they were prepared to meet a life changing situation.
Army for thousands of years have learned how to drill soldiers to train them for what to expect on the battlefield. They can react to enemy tactics. They know because they’ve practiced it.
Jesus seems to have taught past the event. The disciples heard him, but he didn’t train them in what to do while he was going through trial and execution. He gave them instructions for standing on their own after he was gone.
I wonder if he did that because he wasn’t sure if they had really listened to the point of understanding about what the real “Anointed One” or Messiah would be like. Maybe he was afraid that they’d react with swords thinking that the uprising was about to occur. After all, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of a policeman at Gethsemane.
But Jesus didn’t want his followers wiped out like the 2,000 followers of a messiah wannabe in his youth. He had a spiritual kingdom to initiate. He needed his friends alive. So Jesus died that they might live.
But the disciples spent Friday in fear, discouragement and mental disarray. The events were so swift and brutal that they were left trying to figure things out.
We read all these things, but still when we have a sudden troubling experience we also sometimes take some time to understand the situation and allow the Spirit to speak to us and help us work our way out. I wouldn’t be too critical of the disciples for hearing but not understanding. Happens to us, too. We go from being so sure of ourselves to wondering where God is.
Faith Venture 
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