Easter Sunday morning, millions of believers will attend a physically distanced outdoor sunrise service. Good Friday, many will spend some portion of the day attending services to remember the suffering of Jesus. However, the most relatable day of Easter weekend is not Friday or Sunday – its Saturday. It's your day.
On Saturday morning after Jesus’ crucifixion, the disciples wake after not having slept for two days. The city that was screaming for blood the day before is quiet. Crowds have disbanded. Jesus is dead.
Those who believe in Jesus, gather. They remember; things he said; what he taught; things he did; people he touched or healed. They remember what it felt like when this Jesus wanted them. They remember their hopes and dreams of how they were going to change the world.
John Ortberg reminds us of these things and more in Who Is This Man.
Maybe they talk about what went wrong. What happened? None of them wants to say this, but in their hearts, they’re trying to come to grips with this unfathomable thought: Jesus failed. Jesus ended up a failure.
He couldn’t convince the chief priests. He couldn’t win over Rome to make peace or get enough ordinary people to understand His message. Jesus couldn’t even train His disciples to be courageous at the moment of great crisis.
You might expect that if Jesus were to be crucified then resurrected, God would just get on with it.
There are no Bible verses for Saturday. The two days on either side of Easter Saturday are heavily discussed. Some of the brightest minds in the world have devoted themselves primarily to those two days - maybe the two most studied days in history.
In its own way, Saturday should mark Easter as much as Friday and Sunday. Everybody knows Saturday. It’s where we exist.
Saturday is the day you hear your doctor’s prognosis. You wouldn’t wish these feelings on your worst enemy. You fear that all your tomorrows will feel as dark as today.
Saturday is the day your dream died. You wake up and you’re still alive. You have to go on, but you don’t know how. Worse, you don’t know why.
Saturday is the day when you think that your circumstances are as good as they are going to get. Prayers unanswered. Silence. Brass heavens.
Saturday is the day the tomb is NOT empty.
What if the miracle of Easter is not Sunday? What it its Saturday? The miracle of Saturday is the Son of God lies dead. He who knew no sin became like me. And you. He died in our place.
Jesus showed his invincibility not by avoiding death, but by suffering death.
Saturday is the day when faith matters most. It’s the evidence of things unseen.
If you can find God in a tomb, you will find Him in any circumstance you are facing.
Thank God for Easter Saturday.
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