From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, Christians around the world will celebrate the foundation of our faith.
To me, Easter or Resurrection Sunday is the most amazing holiday on the calendar. It is the one religious holiday I look forward to all year long. Easter fulfills the promise of Christmas. Easter is the believers' guarantee of life itself, even unto eternity. We must not take it for granted.
Easter week begins on Palm Sunday with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Jesus is very busy about His Father's business, whether it's cleansing the temple or teaching His disciples or teaching the crowds. Coming into Thursday (Maundy Thursday as many denominations refer to it), brings the Passover celebration and Jesus' Last Supper.
Good Friday, as awful as it is on its surface, is an incredible day. Jesus takes the earthly beating meant for each and every one of us and heals us ("by His wounds we are healed" Isaiah 53:5 ESV). Finally, Jesus is crucified thereby satisfying the Father's demand of atonement and sacrifice; it is the final and all sufficient sacrifice for all of eternity past and present to restore the relationship between God and man that had been broken so many thousands of years earlier by the simple breaking of the one command that God had given them; don't eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Ponder that for a moment if you will. Adam and Eve only had ONE rule to follow, one command to not break. All that I'll add is the fact that God is pure and holy and His standard is perfection. It is a standard that none of us can come close to.
Eventually Sunday, or as the Gospel writers put it, the first day of the week will come, but then there's Saturday.
Each of the Gospel accounts is strangely and purposefully silent about Saturday. Let's read what they each have to say.
57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. Matthew 27:57 - 28:2 ESV
45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. Mark 15:45 - 16:2 ESV
52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.[g] 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Luke 23:52 - 24:3 ESV
39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” John 19:39 - 20:3 ESV
Notice that Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath is almost completely ignored except to name the day.
The questions abound as to what is going on in the lives and minds and hearts of the disciples of Jesus. And not just the 11, but the women and other believers and followers of Jesus.
Only five days earlier, they were all exceedingly jubilant. Their Messiah had come! Salvation was at hand. Freedom could be tasted. Unfortunately, each of these people didn't quite "get" the real reason why Jesus had come. Yes, He had come to proclaim the Good News of God and preach the Scriptures and heal the sick and free the demon possessed, but those were only outward manifestations of His true ministry. Jesus came to restore the human race (the entire human race) back into proper relationship with God by being the atoning and ONLY sacrifice that the Father would accept. That's mind blowing!
But to these poor souls, all of that good and miraculous stuff seemed suddenly snuffed out. These people were utterly crushed in mind and spirit. They were probably physically exhausted. Hope, true hope, seemed vanquished and as they went about silently on that Passover Sabbath, I picture them wandering or shuffling about, forlorn, broken.
Their questions, deep longing questions of Why did this happen? How could this have happened? What's going to happen now? And so on. Confusion reigns.
Have you ever had a week like that? How about a year like that? Maybe possibly a life like that. Are you going through a time like that? When you come to that place there is a palpable silence; a deafening silence that makes us uncomfortable and anxious.
Our reaction to silence
Let's face it, I'm a bit odd. Some of you who know me well will probably agree wholeheartedly with that, but in reality, I enjoy silence. I enjoy being alone with my thoughts and dreams and ideas. Moreover, I enjoy the peace of God in those silent times. But that's me. As I said, I'm odd. Most people HATE silence.WE also hate silence's friend, seeming "inactivity".
Have you ever been (I'm sure your have), with a group of people at dinner or at a party and then suddenly, without warning, there's silence. No one is saying anything. Everyone is simply staring at one another until someone can't stand the silence anymore and starts a new conversation for the express purpose of breaking that silence.
Silence is a hard thing to deal with or even comprehend sometimes. Even when we are alone with just our thoughts, it's still not completely silent. There's a tune or conversation going on in your mind. We fight silence. We normally fight inactivity. Rest is good, but we all have the need for life happening in and around us.
But why? Most of the time, we believe that there's nothing going on (the inactivity). We know that things have to get done, but how can they when everything is silent; at least in our perception or mind.
The fact of the matter is that although we may be in a place or situation of "silence" and inactivity, we know from experience (or should know) that there is plenty of activity going on.
God's Silence. He's never silent
As we read through God's Word, we see many times the "silence of God". Let's take a quick look at two examples.
First, there's the 40 years of God's silence while Moses was living in the wilderness after being thrown out of Egypt. He had been a royal prince. Now Moses was a lowly shepherd, a job that the Egyptians disdained by the way. In those 40 years prior to the burning bush and Moses's "triumphant return" to Egypt to rescue God's people, God was completely silent and apparently completely inactive. No Words were spoken by Him. The Israelites' enslavement was getting worse and worse. It was an apparent mess. But in this apparent mess, God was actually quite busy.
He was working in the peoples hearts and minds to "pressure" them in to crying out to their True King and Deliverer. Life was definitely getting more and more difficult, but there was a purpose; a divine purpose. He was hardening the heart of Pharaoh. He was softening the heart of Moses.
Thinking about this time exposes us to the detailed plans that God has not only for His people in general, but for specific individuals. In God's economy, absolutely nothing is wasted.
When the Israelites finally are brought up out of Egypt, God's mighty hand is guiding everything. He is guiding Moses to be one of history's greatest leaders and law givers (God is the real law giver). He is guiding the people from bondage to freedom with miraculous signs, wonders and power. He is guiding Pharaoh and the Egyptian nation to utter humility through their partial demise.
God is not completely silent.
Another time of God's apparent silence is the "time between the Testaments". Once the Jews returned from their Babylonian-Medo Persian captivity, God had them rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. He continued speaking through His prophets. And then God went silent. Silent for 400 years!
Here was a people and nation that had been accustomed to hearing from God for all of these hundreds of years - even during the captivity through Daniel and Esther - almost a millennia, and now nothing. Complete silence. But as we know from the Bible and history itself, God was far from silent or absent or inactive. He was busy. Really busy.
What was God busy doing? He was busy fulfilling His prophesies. Check out and read the last 3 chapters of the Book of Daniel. Those prophesies of the rise and fall of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and now Rome are not only astounding, they are exacting. When you understand those prophesies, it's mind blowing how accurate they are.
God is never silent or inactive. That's not His nature.
And now on this Saturday before the first day of the week, the day before Jesus' resurrection, He is far from silent, far from inactive.
Something to keep in mind.
All of Creation was affected when the Fall came to the earth. When Adam and Eve first sinned and sin entered (bullied its way) into the world, all of Creation was affected. Humans would have to toil for their sustenance. Weeds and thorns would grow among the finery of Creation. Sin blotted its evil stain on everything and it's never gotten better.
And here's where we are today. Sin and all of its consequences impact every part of our lives day in and day out. In fact it's so bad that all of creation including you and me cry out and groan because it's so hard and difficult.
The Apostle Paul put it this way when writing to the church at Rome: 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:19-25
All of Creation is waiting and has been waiting for a Savior and to be redeemed once and for all. We are tired of the consequences of sin.
I don't know about you but, have you ever been through a time of great trial or consequence and it looks like it could get better but then all of a sudden it just seems to collapse all around you? Perhaps it was your career. Maybe your health? How about your most personal relationships of friends, spouse or children? Maybe all of those things have happened at one time or another. For some of us, they've happened concurrently, in tandem, one right after another. That's my life over the past 5 years. I mention that not for pity, but to encourage you. You see, all is not lost. God has you sitting where He wants you most; and He is sustaining you through it all.
In fact, the whole thing may seem so bad or overwhelming that you can't even find the hope that you once had; the hope that was sustaining you; the hope that you had in yourself. But that's where the rub is! Our hope was placed on the wrong object. Our hope was not placed on something or Someone bigger than ourselves or situation, but even bigger than eternity itself. Where was that hope in God and His grace and beauty and power and redemption? We kind of forgot it. I've kind of forgot it. That's why we need to keep our focus on Him.
As you can see, there's a pattern going on here. Did you notice it? The pattern is this: our perceived exultation, utter disappointment, apparent silence and inactivity. And in that apparent silence and inactivity, we oftentimes despair or give up instead of going back and reading the text, if you will, of our lives or to go back and witness what God DID DO in the past and remember that He will and is always there to provide you exactly what you need.
I need to do something
No, you don't! Actually, yes you do...
In these times we all feel like we need to do something. Unfortunately - or fortunately actually - there's only one thing that we can do. The only truly positive thing that we can do on Saturday is pray; and that's not a trite answer. Prayer is powerful. Prayer doesn't necessarily change anything, except possibly our attitude, and especially if we are truly seeking God's mind and will in the situation.
But I'm so broken and exhausted you say. That's perfectly okay, pray anyway! If you think you don't have the right words, not to worry, the Holy Spirit who abides in you does have the right words; after all, He knows your heart.
Paul in Romans reminds of this fact: Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26.
Everyone, each one of us needs to approach God's throne of grace and petition Him your needs. If you don't think you need to do so, just remember some of the most powerful men who have ruled nations or armies did exactly that. And these were tough guys like George Washington and George Patton. They prayed reverently, honestly and fervently.
Silence before awe
There's a passage in the Book of Revelation that I've always found amazing. It's actually more than amazing in that it should send you to your knees. Let's look at it.
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Revelation 8:1
A couple of things to keep in mind: God exists OUTSIDE of time and space. There is no time keeping per se. The other thing to keep in mind is that heaven is a busy and bustling place. God is constantly being worshiped by angelic hosts (and we His saints eventually), angels are continually being sent here, there and everywhere in their other angelic duties. In a word, Heaven is far from being silent!
But something HUGE is about to happen and when Jesus, the Lamb, opens that seventh seal, silence erupts in heaven for about half an hour. Have you ever been anywhere in complete silence for 30 minutes? If you have you know it's not only eerie, it's downright unnerving. You don't know what to expect (neither does anyone else for that matter). It's just utterly silent. What, in heaven's name is going to happen next? Well, whatever it is, it's going to be mind blowing; even for these angels who have seen it all!
And that's Easter Saturday. Total silence. Lots of anxiety. Lots of questions without answers. Expectations beyond belief.
What is YOUR Easter Saturday? How do you or are you handling it?
Sunday at last!
Thankfully, God is so loving and so gracious to give us the gift of Easter or Resurrection Sunday!
We notice in the Gospel narratives that it seems like the disciples had come to the point of acceptance of their fate and the fate of the "movement". It was dead and that was it. They could live in despair that would eventually go away. But when they arrive at the tomb, it is empty! A brand new form of life and living has burst forth, conquering sin and consequences! Life triumphing over death and decay and sorrow.
Dear friend, I can tell you from my own personal experiences that I have lived through many Saturdays. They were sad and sometimes yes, unnerving. But then GOD brings a RESURRECTION that completely astounds and humbles you and brings you into even closer relationship to Him, because Resurrection is all about HIM. We may have the privilege of partaking in it, but Resurrection is all about God, His purposes, His plans, His glory, His honor, His majesty, His beauty, His loving kindness.
The old adage is so true: it's always darkest before the dawn. Beloved, hold on to the eternal hope you have in Christ. Hold on to the goodness and love that your Father in Heaven has for you personally. Remember that God specifically designed you for a relationship with Him eternally through the finished work of Christ Jesus.
I am (I think!) entering my Resurrection day in so many aspects of my personal and professional life. I've had my triumphal entry and "holy week". Significant parts of my life God asked me to Crucify to His purposes and glory. My Saturdays have been at times long, cold and lonely...and even scary. My family has always been there to provide love and support and a shoulder to weep on. Thankfully I had loving Christian friends and a church family who cared for and prayed for me. I even had customers who checked in on me and encouraged me. Most importantly, God kept speaking to me through His Word and thankfully, I responded obediently and clung on for dear life expecting Him to work mightily in His timing, not mine. God wouldn't let me give up on Him.
2015 and early 2016 brought significant health issues that affected every aspect of my life. If you're a child of God and you believe that He truly loves you, take heart in those times. Take heart, He hasn't forgotten about you. If there was one verse of hope that people kept sending my way as I lay in the hospital ICU or at home with another infection or about to just "give up" on whatever it was, you can take this Divine Promise to the bank: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare (goodness or peace) and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
That's how much God loves and cares for you!
The bottom and last line: so what have I learned? Hold loose onto those things that are temporal, even relationships. Grasp tightly to that which is Eternal, namely God, His Word and His Promises. He is good all the time. I am (all of us are) to wait, not in despair of the situation, but in sublime and eager anticipation of what He will do next in our lives. Resurrection Sunday is almost here. In the darkest time, cry out to Him, even so come Lord Jesus. You are my Deliverer.
In memory of Tom who passed away this week after a long battle with cancer and is survived by his wife Judy. May you be blessed.
Music: Matt Maher, "Deliverer"
