We Were Waiting

"We Were Waiting"

A Good Friday reflection on the Israelites as God's chosen people, from the birth of the nation until the crucifixion. First part of a series.

We were waiting for you. We were a young creature and we remembered your promises. At times we would forget but your promises we held sacred still. And you knew that and you reminded us of them and let us taste them before you ever let us die.

I grew tired of waiting. I saw the Others laughing and I wanted to laugh, too. You told me he would wipe my every tear one day but I began to despise the waiting when they would laugh at me. I still feared you though and that was the only thing that kept me.

So I clung to the laws you gave us. They were good laws, you said so yourself. So I must be doing good to keep them. When the Others laughed at me I told myself, "At least I'm keeping my laws."

"All you Others, just wait because only his people will be saved. All you Others, you just wait."

But every now and again the others would invite me over. I never went at first but then my friends started going so I did, too. I would laugh all night. How I missed laughing! And every night I would cry myself to sleep. The others found out about my crying and slapped me. They pushed me to the ground and then helped me up and gave me a hug. They said to never do that again.

I learned to laugh and not to cry and all the while keep my laws. One day your laws would save me. Some people claimed to be you. I wanted to believe at first because part of me was still waiting. But it was easy to spot their insanity when they died.

I remember when I heard of your coming from a dirty man. I remember how he annoyed me so. He looked at me once and I was so very frightened. Not of him, but of his gaze. I couldn't stand him looking at me. And when you finally showed your face I was angry because you looked at me in the same way.

But I wanted to talk to you and tell you how I've been keeping your laws. I smiled as I told you for I knew that you would love me for keeping them so well. But you rebuked me! You made me to look like an imbecile child in front of all my friends. And I hated you for that. I was so embarrassed and frightened by your rebuke. How could the "great savior" act in such a horrid manner to me?

He must be another fake brute. "Kill him. Get rid of him, " I started to hear my friends say. Some of the Others asked what his crime was but my friends started shouting over them, "Kill him! Give him death!"

I was so angry and annoyed by your rebuke that I yelled, too. "Crucify! Crucify!" I remembered that even my law says you must be killed since you claimed to be God's Son. My law said it so I shouted even louder and grew even more angry. I was spitting as I yelled and I did not let myself see your face.