Keeping Vigil

Gospel: John 18: 1 - 19: 42

Recall the beginning of the Gospel when the coming of Jesus was announced.  There, we found men incredulous and religious leaders conspiring with worldly powers over the destruction of the child to come.  And in the midst of it all were two women keeping vigil - Mary and Elizabeth - the ones entrusted with the message and the promise.  

Today, the day of Jesus' brutal execution, we find the same scene as in the beginning of the Gospel.  Religious leaders have conspired with the empire to destroy Jesus.  The menfolk among the disciples have either betrayed, denied, or ran for safety.  And in the midst of a mob of religious fanatics calling for the death of Jesus stand a few women keeping vigil at the cross, their silent presence greater than any sermon could preach.  

Jesus did not find a hearing in the halls of the empire nor in the courts of religious leaders.  He finds no friends in the mob of religious zealots, nor even among most of his own companions whom the day previous he called friends.  But here are the women loyal and true as they were in the beginning of the story.  Let us imitate the women and keep vigil, and in so doing preach a more powerful sermon than any words could accomplish.