Sunday, April 24, 2011

Stuck on Saturday

Have you ever thought about Saturday as a part of Holy Week? There are specific discussions in the Bible about other days and churches have services to commemorate those days- the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, the last supper on Thursday, the crucifixion on Friday and of course the resurrection on Sunday. But what happened on Saturday? What was going on for Jesus' followers on the day after his execution?

We do know a few things: The Bible says Jesus' body was in a sealed and guarded tomb, and his followers had scattered after his arrest and death. Though they had scattered, some of them apparently joined together again after the observance of the Sabbath because the women who discovered the empty tomb told the news to a group of them. Those are the few details that are shared.

I can't imagine what they are feeling. The disciples had given up their lives to follow this man named Jesus, abandoning their careers, facing ridicule, committing the time and minds all because they trusted that he was the Savior and Messiah that was promised to God's people. They were willing to make the sacrifices to follow Jesus because they thought they were following God. But everything they knew and believed changed in a day. They went from celebrating the Passover with their friend on one evening and in less than a day he was arrested, accused of blasphemy, beaten and executed like a dirty criminal. Now their Savior laid in a tomb.

Saturday was the Sabbath which meant no work could be done in observance of the day. Being that the disciples and most of Jesus' followers were Jewish, that meant they were not able to do much besides sit and think. It was supposed to be a day of worship but did they even want to worship God? Did they believe any more? Maybe they were angry, maybe they were confused, maybe scared, mourning, regretful, shocked. Maybe they felt it all. They were confident that they were doing what God wanted in following Jesus and believing him to be the Messiah. But on that Saturday, following God did not look at all like they thought it would, in fact it looked like a gigantic failure.

Have you ever had a "Saturday" like that? You feel so confident that you are in God's plan, or at least you know you are trying to be obedient to him, but then nothing seems to look as though you would think it should. Maybe it doesn't seem like God is answering your prayers. Maybe something painful happens in your life that you wonder why God doesn't prevent. Maybe it feels as though nothing is going right, as much as you are trying.

Take heart, because your Sunday is coming. The disciples too were angry, confused, scared, etc. because, in their minds, the death of their leader and friend what was supposed to happen to the Messiah. Little did they know that God's plan to bring them and all of us salvation required just that and the entire time he was in full control. Not only was God in control of what seemed devastating, but they were about to experience something they could not have even dreamed of. Jesus proved himself to be God in a spectacular way through his resurrection. Had it all been according to their plan, not only would salvation not have come to the world but they would have missed out on being a witness to a glorious miracle.

Whatever your "Saturday" is right now may seem frustrating or confusing. You may be mad at God. You may not feel like worshipping him right now because he isn't responding in the way you think he should. But don't let yourself miss out on something far greater than you could ever dream up for yourself just because of your expectation. Just wait, Sunday is coming.