Many of us know friends who are generous, perhaps impulsive or unpredictable. They can be extremely loyal but a bit of a “coward” so that you can’t always depend on them.
Years ago, there was a play on Broadway called the “Great God Brown” and in one scene; a man was on his deathbed. He was very frightened but his mother was at his side.
A single mother is frantic. She has found a six-pack of beer in her 14-year-old daughter’s closet. When the daughter comes home from school, she confronts her, “Ok Maria, what is this?”
In the sixties, Joni Mitchell sang a song “I’ve looked at life from both sides now. From win and lose and still somehow it’s life’s illusions I recall.
They were behind closed doors out of fear. Fear of what? Several things. They were afraid that those responsible for the death of Jesus might hunt them down, afraid of public ridicule.