Holy Week Thoughts, Part 7: In Between
Today marks one year since my dad passed away. I was in the room when he died, and it’s as vivid to me now as it was when it happened.
One thing I remember telling people that day was that I was as sure of God’s promises then as I ever had been before.
The disciples and Jesus’ other followers most likely didn’t feel that way on the Saturday following the crucifixion. After all, they hadn’t experienced the promise of the resurrection. They hadn’t seen Jesus come back from the grave yet, signaling triumph over death and sin.
They were in between. In between despair and hope. In between sorrow and joy. In between doubt and faith. In between defeat and victory.
It was also the Passover Sabbath. They should have been commemorating the exodus from slavery. Was it a hollow holy day for them?
I imagine them cowering in fear. What now? Will the Romans come for them next? What dangers lie ahead?
They may well have felt like Paul’s “what If'“ words in 1 Corinthians:
If there is no such thing as resurrection of the dead, the Messiah hasn’t been raised, either; and if the Messiah hasn’t been raised, our royal proclamation is empty, and so is your faith. We even turn out to have been misrepresenting God, because we gave it as our evidence about God that he raised the Messiah, and he didn’t!—if, that is, the dead are not raised. For if the dead aren’t raised, the Messiah wasn’t raised either; and if the Messiah wasn’t raised, your faith is pointless, and you are still in your sins. What’s more, people who have fallen asleep in the Messiah have perished for good.
1 Corinthians 15:13-18 (The Bible for Everyone)
That Saturday had to have been a somber, reflective day for Jesus’ followers. I wonder if they thought about His promises and what would come next. Did any of them have any inkling what would happen just one day later? Were any of them prepared for the resurrection?
Even as I continue to mourn my dad one year after his last breath on earth, I have hope. I’m confident that I’ll see him again because he’s with Jesus.
As you go about your Saturday, try to put yourself in the disciples’ sandals. Try to imagine what that Saturday was like for them. Then prepare yourself for a celebration of Jesus’ victory over death tomorrow.
Lord, it’s hard to picture how Jesus’ followers spent that Saturday. But thank You that we’ve seen the end of the story. We can have hope and rejoice that Jesus took care of death and the grave for us. We can’t wait to celebrate tomorrow! In Jesus name, Amen.
Photo by Kolya Korzh on Unsplash