I spent a great part of Easter weekend pondering Saturday of the Holy Days of Easter. Was Saturday a lost day? There is no mention of Saturday in the scriptures, what was really going on? I had a faithful reader and good friend send me this on Facebook,
"Often known as Silent Saturday because it is a day to remember in silent anticipation the events of Good Friday in silent anticipation of Easter or Resurrection Sunday when all believers rejoice in the fact that Christ defeated death and offers Eternal Life to those profess their sins, ask forgiveness and acknowledge Christ as the way, the Truth and the Light."
Well said and it strongly agrees with where my head went. As I began to think of periods of time in life when I was in the flux of the "between's", it occurred to me how different that "waiting time" can be. There were periods of waiting when I was filled with GREAT anticipation. Eager for "what was coming". My mind went to those nine months of gestation prior to my children entering this world. I thought of the days leading up to graduation. #2 Grand will receive his degree in Electrical Engineering (with several minors) the second weekend in May. This has been a LONG "leading up to". Since he was very young. he has had a life plan. While many were socializing are spending hours playing sports, he was building computers. As his Dad lovingly points out, he has had a spread sheet pointing to where he was going since the very earliest years. There are the waiting periods called engagements leading up to marriage. On and on life has been filled with times of waiting. There have also been times of difficult days of waiting. I thought of my losing my parents--knowing where we were headed--dreading the day--sometimes in denial. I recently told someone the one thing more difficult--more painful than losing a loved one is watching them suffer.
Saturday of Holy Weekend has a mixture of both the Sweet and the Bitter of waiting. It was the day of mourning for those who loved Jesus---a time of flux-wondering what do we do now? It was, no doubt, a time of fear for the followers of Christ--seeing what they had done to Him. Was all lost? Was there any hope? Would they all suffer the same fate?
BUT THEN CAME SUNDAY! He was risen---He had defeated death---we were all promised a seat with Him in Eternity. THANK GOD!
My conclusion about Saturday with all that contemplation----it was a time to prepare our hearts ---to cling to His teachings---to wait with Hope. I thought of the times when I was praying faithfully for something and God was telling me, "Wait". He was reminding me of His faithfulness--His plans being all for my best. There is always purpose in waiting. The Word is filled with examples. I encourage you when you are in the middle of your next period of waiting to remember~
"He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He also set eternity in the human heart';
yet no one can fathom what God has done
from beginning to end."
Ecclesiastes 3:11
What a wonderful testimony to the value and necessity of waiting, as we all do that Saturday before Easter. It is on that day that I try to put myself in the place of Jesus' followers who had yet to know the rest of the story, and what they might have been feeling and thinking in those moments after Jesus was buried. I'm so grateful that we can rejoice in the reality of the Risen Lord. Blessings, Lulu!
ReplyDeleteConsidering your thoughts in light of our Easter Sabbath sermon. Saturday was the sabbath also. Some of the women had observed the quick burial to avoid sabbath. As soon as they could they went to the tomb to tend to Jesus body. Our pastor said when Jesus appeared to them on the way to tell disciples the tomb was empty and said “Greetings!” That his word was a command meaning JOY! Thinking about how we like that jolt in movies, novels, etc. we thought the hero was dead but no He is ALIVE! Thanks for this post
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