Good Thursday
Underdog
My favorite cartoon was Underdog. I am not sure why. But one thing I remember most was the end of many episodes. Underdog would be in trouble, some bad guy about to kill Polly Purebred, or some other dastardly victory.
And the announcer’s voice would always say, “Looks like this is the end… but don’t miss the NEXT…. UNDERDOG show.” The dramatic music would start and I would urgently wish it were tomorrow.
Looks like this is the end… but don’t miss the NEXT show.
That is a lot like Maundy Thursday. Things were looking grim. The crowds were not quite as enthusiastic. Leadership, both state and the temple, were planning Christ’s death. The new kingdom was being trodden underfoot instead of being at hand.
It looked like this was the end… but Jesus had told them all not to miss the NEXT part.
Because He was coming back from death. It wasn’t the end, or anything like it. Hope hadn’t fled, it had just become something better. The things that seemed wrong, were so very, very right.
But this isn’t just something that happened 2000 years ago for our intellectual consideration. It is something to which we can hitch our wagons. Something we can relish. Something we need.
We often feel like “this is the end.” Financially, politically, emotionally, we are often as trapped as Underdog or as despairing as the disciples. The Resurrection tells us, “Looks like this is the end… but don’t miss the NEXT part!”
Each apparent end is a beginning. Each apparent failure is a fresh start. Each valley’s low point is the start of the next slope up.
But it only gets better with the Christ. Without Him it really IS the end.