We have something that the followers of Jesus did not have, the day after His death.
We know that Sunday is coming.
But they did not. All they knew was that their beloved teacher, their friend, their master, the one that was going to change everything, had died. Not only had he died, He had died a horrific death on the cross. Peter had denied Him three times. The brothers who fought over who would sit at Jesus’ right hand now knew no hope. Thomas…..well, I think Thomas was at such a loss that he didn’t even want to be with the other apostles. He wanted to be alone. And they all mourned. And were confused. And frightened. And………
When God is silent, and when hope is not on the horizon, what does one do? What other choice is there but to wait? When the silence is so profound, so palpable, so real, it is painful. It is disturbing and frightening. Even for those of us that know that Sunday is coming. That our Jesus rose from the dead. That He is alive!!! That the resurrection is truth! Even we who live on this side of the resurrection experience moments of silence from God, and despair. But we are not without hope, because we know that He who rose that Resurrection Sunday sees and knows even when the silence from heaven is deafening.
I once heard a sermon by John Ortburg that addressed this exact thing. It had a huge impact on me, and I return to it periodically to remind myself that the wait is hard, but God is good and loves me even through the silence and waiting. It’s simply titled “Saturday”, addressing the day between the death and the resurrection. Powerful sermon, hope-giving words. You can listen to it by clicking HERE.
I also came across this moving song and video tonight by Andrew Peterson. It expresses much better some of what I am trying to say here on this Saturday before Easter Sunday.
May you go to bed tonight and sleep peacefully, with the hope and the knowledge that our Jesus did not stay in the grave, that Resurrection Sunday is coming!
