As Christians, we observe Good Friday in somber tones, remembering the day our Savior was crucified. And we celebrate on Easter Sunday because that same Savior has risen, showing victory over death and over sin - our two great enemies. But what about that day in between - silent Saturday? What about this day, the day the disciples sat in hiding, not knowing, wondering what was to become of them and, more importantly, what had become of the man they had given their lives to for the past three years. The one that they had thought would deliver them from their oppressed lives under Roman rule.
What about this day that we sit, waiting for Easter. Where are our thoughts? We remembered Christ on the cross yesterday, do we remember Him in the tomb today? Do we contemplate what our lives would look like had He stayed in that tomb? Or are we more consumed with plans for Easter dinners, what we (and remembering years gone by, what our children) will wear to services tomorrow? Have we grown complacent in the fact that we know what tomorrow brings and that because Christ has risen, we have been guaranteed eternal life? Because, just for a little while, let's pretend we're the disciples and we don't know. Where would we be if silent Saturday had stretched into forever silence and Jesus had not burst forth out of the tomb?
This is where we would be: We would be like followers of other religions that quote an earthly leader who may have also shared good and honorable ideas, but without any proof of their deity, without any proof of Godly power to announce to the world that they actually were God, living here on earth, to show us the way to Him. Jesus in the tomb is the human side of Jesus - one of us - nothing more. Others were crucified on Good Friday, right by His side. They, too, laid in graves, silent on this Saturday, no different than Jesus of Nazareth laying in the tomb given to Him by Joseph of Arimethea. Jesus, a man crucified, dead and buried.
This is where we would be: As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, we would be objects of complete pity and futility. For if Saturday had not given way to Resurrection Sunday, our faith in our resurrection would be void.
What about this day that we sit, waiting for Easter. Where are our thoughts? We remembered Christ on the cross yesterday, do we remember Him in the tomb today? Do we contemplate what our lives would look like had He stayed in that tomb? Or are we more consumed with plans for Easter dinners, what we (and remembering years gone by, what our children) will wear to services tomorrow? Have we grown complacent in the fact that we know what tomorrow brings and that because Christ has risen, we have been guaranteed eternal life? Because, just for a little while, let's pretend we're the disciples and we don't know. Where would we be if silent Saturday had stretched into forever silence and Jesus had not burst forth out of the tomb?This is where we would be: We would be like followers of other religions that quote an earthly leader who may have also shared good and honorable ideas, but without any proof of their deity, without any proof of Godly power to announce to the world that they actually were God, living here on earth, to show us the way to Him. Jesus in the tomb is the human side of Jesus - one of us - nothing more. Others were crucified on Good Friday, right by His side. They, too, laid in graves, silent on this Saturday, no different than Jesus of Nazareth laying in the tomb given to Him by Joseph of Arimethea. Jesus, a man crucified, dead and buried.
This is where we would be: As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, we would be objects of complete pity and futility. For if Saturday had not given way to Resurrection Sunday, our faith in our resurrection would be void.
v. 12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
So, just for this Saturday, spend some time thinking about Christ staying in the tomb, wondering about how differently your life would look if He had. Contemplating, along with the disciples, what your future would look like without Him. Let your heart break for what you thought you had found.
And then tomorrow, when you first hear those most joyful of words, "He is risen!", let your heart overflow with the assurance that your faith is valid, that Jesus is Lord, Immanuel, "God with us". He is NOT like any other man who has ever lived - He is ALIVE and sitting on the right hand of God Almighty. He will return for each of us, and if we believe in His resurrection, we will experience resurrection. Don't miss celebrating the difference from Saturday to Sunday - from life without Christ, to life with Christ forever.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth... Romans 1:16
