Most people cannot stand an open-ended story. Hollywood has for years made millions of dollars off of movies with a predictable yet happy ending. We love our stories to be wrapped up and presented to us with a neat and perfect bow. The thought of having to discern a plot or to live in some sort of uncertainty frustrates and confuses us to no end. We cannot seem to live without our happy ending.

I would submit that the majority of Christians suffer from this need for a happy ending. For example, as soon as Christmas is over we want to go ahead and celebrate Easter. We are unwilling to take the time to reflect on the life, ministry, and death of Jesus. Unknowingly, we gloss over the full story of Christ, which relates most to our human experience.

During this Holy Week, some of us will want to concentrate solely on the glorious resurrection of Christ. Instead, I suggest we enter the mindset of Jesus and his disciples, from the joy of entering Jerusalem to the pain of seeing our beloved friend die a horrible death. We need to sit in the uncertainty of the story. We must force ourselves to grapple with the pain of death, the loneliness of lost friendship, the agony of waiting in a dark garden, and the magnitude of a suffering God relating to a suffering humanity. Only until we pause and contemplate upon the dark of Friday will we be able to embrace the light of Sunday.