April 15, 2017

"Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid." Mark 15:44-47

We have commemorated Maundy Thursday and have remembered Good Friday while we prepare for a glorious Resurrection Sunday celebration.

But here we are at Saturday. We are suspended between the cross the crypt and the celebration.

So what about Saturday?

Thursday has a name and a story, as does Friday and Sunday is the greatest story ever told! But then there's Saturday.

I did some research and discovered some refer to it as "Holy Saturday" but I have never heard it called that.

But, the more I thought about Saturday the more I realize that far from being an insignificant day Saturday of Holy Week symbolizes every day.

How so?

That Saturday of Holy Week, "Holy Saturday"if you will, was spent between the hurt of the cross and the hope of the resurrection. Isn't that were you live much of your life? Aren't many of your days spent marked by the sting of disappointment, the pain of loss or the frustration of failure?

What is it that keeps you going on the Saturdays of your life? Is it not the hope that tomorrow will be better. Isn't it the hope that something good will happen, maybe even something good enough to compensate for the pain?

If you are a Christ-follower you know about Good Friday and Easter Sunday and you understand that because of Christ's Resurrection every Friday will have it's Sunday! Any loss or any death will be followed by a Resurrection!

But in between is Saturday, the period between the pain and the promise. Sometimes Saturday is twenty-four hours, sometimes it's twenty-four days, sometimes it's twenty-four weeks or twenty-four months or even twenty-four years. But however long Saturday is, the hope that there will be a resurrection carries you through the hurt of that Friday.

So, do you see the significant symbolism of the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday?

We dread those Fridays of loss and pain and death but oh how we love those Sundays of resurrected life and hope!

Most of your life will be lived on a Saturday! So remember the truth of the Easter Story, for every Friday there will be a Resurrection Sunday!

Happy Saturday!