They Did Not Recall His Words

I am thinking about the two reactions to Christ's death....the disciples verses the priests and rulers. Here is the Disciples reaction:-

"With the death of Christ the hopes of His disciples perished. They looked upon His closed eyelids and drooping head, His hair matted with blood, His pierced hands and feet, and their anguish was indescribable. Until the last they had not believed that He would die; they could hardly believe that He was really dead. Overwhelmed with sorrow, they did not recall His words foretelling this very scene. Nothing that He had said now gave them comfort. They saw only the cross and its bleeding Victim. The future seemed dark with despair. Their faith in Jesus had perished; but never had they loved their Lord as now. Never before had they so felt His worth, and their need of His presence."DA 772

The Priests and Rulers reaction was this:-
On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

EGW says the priests and rulers got permission for 100 soldiers to be stationed around the tomb.

I look at the two responses:-

The Disciples:-
Perished hope
Indescribable anguish
Overwhelmed with sorrow
faith perished
future -dark with despair
Did not recall his words

The priests and rulers however could recall His words and believed them and acted on them. ( not that it was a saving belief)

How about me...when hope seems to perish, and I have indescribable anguish, sorrow and things are dark with despair...does my faith perish? Do I forget His words? How different could have been that Sabbath that Christ was in the tomb had the disciples clung to His words and allowed faith to live. God calls me to recall His words in dark times and to choose to keep faith alive....and to then act on those words.

Thoughts of a friend:-The reactions of the disciples and pharisees is really something. Funny, how the pharisees remembered His words but they thought it to be a threat and the disciples just simply forgot and fell into discouragement. How we are like both sides. Sometimes, it's hard to swallow truth when we see something needs to be given up or changed, it feels like a threat to our comfort or safety. Like the rich young ruler. And oh, how I have been like the disciples forgetting God's word of comfort and promise of deliverance. I so love the walk to Emmaus, when Jesus was walking with two disciples and He was encouraging them, sparking their memory of His word. I love that when they realized they were with Jesus, they got so excited and left and told everyone they knew.