The Silence Of Saturday...

What happened on Saturday? Saturday was silent. Saturday was gloomy… Saturday was uncertain. Christ had died, all seemed lost, so lost, that no one saw sense or could muster up enough faith to hold on to His words before He left. The assurance that it is finished were probably overlooked as last words of a hopeless dying man, relieved to be relieved of his pain and torment on that cross. All His simple but profound teachings that pointed to Him as the messiah made no sense anymore on that cross.

What happened when his body was buried? Suddenly what they believed and were passionate about seemed surreal. It was real while it lasted, but now was reality. What to do next. Where to go next… what’s the next curve ball life is throwing. That Saturday must have been filled with uncertainty, with fear, with anguish, with questions and wonder. Was he? Wasn’t he? Then how? Why would Judas? How could they have murdered him? Just like that?

They were scattered and hiding out in fear, sought out to be arrested. It was truly finished for them, but not in the sense Jesus meant, but in their botched understanding in that moment.

The heart beat of a mother who tried to reconcile her conception of a son who was the son of God and all the miracles she had seen… to reconcile the reality of the moment to the virgin birth and those profound words that still sounded so clear like it was said at that very moment “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” Luke 1:31-33

We all go through the silent Saturdays. We hear words of assurance, words that stir our faiths, sermons that swell our faith to mountain moving proportions… we’re all hopeful till we get to a point where it seems like we’re stuck between a hard rock and the deep blue sea. Every way feels like no way… because really, you’d feel better if you could move into the deep blue sea, because somehow that gives a sense of direction, of movement even when you know you’ll drown in there. Anything feels better than being still and knowing he is God.

But God said He will, then why hasn’t He? But God’s here with me He says, so why can’t I hear Him or feel Him or see that miracle? Everywhere speaks silence, even the word breath silent words out when you try to read to encourage yourself. Your prayers are mumbles. You are in a silent drought…

But that’s the wrong time to give up. That’s the time to be more hopefully, because you see, as with the disciples, after the silent Saturday where everything they had been taught by Jesus was shaken, where doubt clawed at their hearts of the authenticity of Jesus as the savior… after this deep gutted silence that could slice at every ounce of truth effortlessly, came the thunderous Sunday. The Sunday that changed the world as we know it. The Sunday that saved us, the Sunday that sealed our fates as children of God… the Sunday that restored us and proved every word and every step Jesus took. Resurrection Sunday.

If everything is as silent as death around you, rejoice, there’s a resurrection for you. Christ died that we may have life and have it in abundance… life isn’t just the air we breath, life is the life we live; our relationship, our marriage, our careers, our ministry… everything! There’s a resurrection and in it, the fulfillment of all the promises.

Whatever you’re going through, there’s a word for you it truly is finished. That situation is finished; it can’t finish you unless you let the silence of Saturday hang you on a noose of unbelief. There’s a calm just before the glorious storm. God is working, even when it’s silent. It was silent on earth, but Christ was down in hades to raise some dust J proclaiming His victory to the kingdom of darkness. Destroying the power of death, so when its silent, know He’s behind the scene, perfecting it for you, bringing us to the perfect finish through the perfect sacrifice.

Expect a resurrection!