The days following the resurrection must have been great for the disciples. Jesus came back! Sunday had to be a day of celebration, but the next days may have been even better as they got over the shock of His return and got to spend some time with Jesus. I don't know. It's all supposition on my part, and I could be wrong.
What I do know is that no matter how wonderful Resurrection Sunday and the days that followed may have been, Saturday sucked. That particular Saturday is the one day in history since Christ's birth where no one believed Jesus is alive. He lived part of Friday, and He lived again Sunday morning, but Saturday He was dead, and not one person believed differently.
Friday brought calamity. Destruction and death shook the very foundation of everything. The disciples faith shook as much as the earthquake shook the ground. Any prayers they lifted up to change the situation, to spare Jesus, seemed to fall on deaf ears. If they missed the not my will but yours part of the Gethsemane prayer at the time and thought only of Jesus praying for deliverance, then it appeared that even the Master's prayers went unanswered. Jesus Himself cried out the question of why God would forsake Him. With Friday came the cries to God, and nothing changed, or at least didn't get better. It only got worse. The worst case scenario had happened. God didn't answer the prayers and Jesus died a horrible death.
Saturday though was a day of hopeless silence. Everything they had hoped for was over and done. God had waited too long to answer their cries (Never mind Lazarus and four days dead, we forget that kind of thing when our current situation crosses the line into impossible). How hard those Saturdays feel! Fridays are bad enough when everything starts to go wrong and we reach that point when it becomes obvious that God isn't going to stop it, change it or fix it our way. Saturday we feel forsaken, adrift and directionless, and unsure what to do. During those silent times in life when the dream has died and it doesn't feel like God cares, we need to wait.
We need to wait. Weeping may last all night, but joy comes in the morning. The disciples didn't feel and know that Sunday morning would be a day of celebration as the Father would raise Jesus up and bring something multiple times better than what they had wanted Friday. We may not know what God plans to do, but whenever He says no and seems to leave us hanging there's something amazing in our Easter around the corner. Just wait and remember that God loves providing the light of joy after periods of darkness and despair. The Saturdays aren't the end, they are the tension before the grand victorious climax!
Abba, help me not to lose heart during the Saturdays of life. Help me not to get angry at not getting my way on Friday and run from You. May these periods be times of continuing to seek You regardless of my feelings and emotions, and may I eagerly anticipate the resurrection and life of the third day. Amen
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