Holy Week Day 6: The Silent Saturday

Less than a week before, Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a colt while the crowds shouted Hosannahs and waved palm branches. For the disciples, it was probably one of the most exciting days of their lives. Dreams were coming true. Hopes were being fulfilled. Prayers were being answered.

And then...

Everything spiraled out of control.

Or so it seemed.

Before they could get past their shock and fear to decide how to respond, Jesus had been arrested, tried, and executed. They awakened that Saturday morning to their worst nightmare. Jesus was dead and buried. There was a Roman seal on the tomb. It was guarded.

Everything they had spent the last three years believing and working toward was over.

Or so it seemed.

I've felt that way before. Felt that God had given me clear instructions but, when I obeyed, nothing went the way I expected. It looked to me and those around me as if I had utterly failed. 

Or so it seemed.

I wondered if I had misunderstood what He said. I feared I had done the wrong thing. I couldn't understand. I felt ashamed and confused and afraid. Where was God in this mess that my obedience had made?

Maybe you've felt that, too.

It's where the disciples and the followers of Jesus were on that Silent Saturday. Jesus knew that, but He left them in their confusion. He left them in their fear. He left them in their uncertainty and their failing faith.

He left them in the silence because He knew Sunday was coming.  

He knew the stone would roll away and the tomb would be emptied. He knew the body would be gone and He would rise again. He knew He would soon walk with them and talk with them again.

God used my own worst disappointments to bring me to the end of myself and show me His own great glory. That's what He was doing for the disciples, too. They would soon be utterly amazed by the power of the God they served. By the Messiah they followed.

But they amazed weren't on Saturday.

On Saturday, they were devastated. Heartbroken. Afraid they could be the next to die.

On Silent Saturday, they didn't revel in the silence, but I do, because I know Sunday is coming. I know the glory and the splendor of my Risen King is just around the corner.

Silent Saturday reminds me that what looked like utter defeat on earth was simply a bigger battle in the heavenlies. It was simply a greater victory unfolding in a soon-empty tomb. Prayers that seemed forgotten were being answered in a way no one could imagine.

On Silent Saturday, it has become my tradition to be still before the Lord. To acknowledge all the confusion and uncertainty and unanswered prayers in my life and give them to Him, all over again. 

On this day, I recognize that what I see is not all there is and confess that, though my prayers may seem unanswered, there is a bigger battle in the heavenlies and victory may yet be won.

Today, join with me in being still before the Lord, offering Him our confusion, fear, and broken dreams and look toward the day when His glory will be revealed.

On that dark and terrible day, when all hope was gone, the Hope of the World was fighting a battle that only He could see, only He could win, and He won it. He defeated Sin and Death and set us free.

This day, let's remember that terrifying day, for tomorrow is coming. On day day, we'll celebrate the greatest miracle of all. Our Risen Savior.

"And so They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, 

as is the burial custom of the Jews. 

Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; 

and in that garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. 

Therefore on account of the Jewish day of preparation,

 because the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

 John 20:40-42 nasb

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In case you missed any of this series, here are the links:

Holy Week Day 1: The Scandalous Act of Love

Holy Week Day 2: The Betrayer

Holy Week Day 3: Instant Obedience

Holy Week Day 4: Jesus' Last Week

Holy Week day 5: The Dark and Terrible Good Friday
#silentsaturday #easter #Jesus #linesfromleanna 

Silent Saturday

And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave. 

Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I am to rise again.' Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone. (Matthew 27:59-66 NASB)

Despite all Jesus had told them ahead of time, His followers were shocked and heart-broken when He was crucified. They were devastated when they realized that He wasn't going to do a miracle and get Himself off that cross. He was dead and their world was shattered. The two women followed the body to the tomb, saw Him laid in the grave, saw the stone rolled over the entrance. 

He was gone. All hope of the Messiah, the new Kingdom was over. It was the end.

It was also the beginning, but no one knew that yet. 

It was the chief priests and Pharisees who expected something to happen, not his followers. The unbelievers remembered that Jesus had said He would rise after three days and they knew He did what He said He would. There was something in those unbelievers that believed He might rise, but there was also something more that believed a grand deception might be under way. They were taking no chances. The stone was already there, but they secured a seal on the stone and put guards before the stone. Jesus wasn't getting out of the grave if they could help it.

For the disciples, it was a terrible time. God was silent. They didn't know what to think, what to believe, much less what to do. They grieved. They wailed. They gnashed their teeth. They wept. Everything they had staked their lives for on the last few years was gone.

Most believers commemorate Good Friday and celebrate Easter, but we don't always take note of Silent Saturday. It is a deeply profound moment in time, however, because we so often experience those frightening days when our hope is shattered and God is silent. It is in those silent times that we are easily overwhelmed with desperation, thinking God has abandoned us, terrified that we will not survive our trial. 

It is in the silence, however, that God does some of His best work. It is in the silence that we learn to walk by faith and not by sight, that we learn the value of hope, the importance of perseverance. It is in the silent times that we stake our claim and learn to hold firm. It is in persevering through the silence that we learn to "own our faith" and become rock solid. We change from a Simon to a Peter.

Silence is a precious rarity but is a good way to acknowledge that God is still in charge, even when He is silent. He is still working out His plan, even when we can't see His hand. He is still on His throne, even when we feel He is gone. 

Today, spend some time in absolute silence. Let the phone ring unanswered. Let the emails wait. Take some time to be completely alone, totally silent, and meditate on the One who bring joy and light on the other side of the dark and the quiet. 

Be still and know that He is God.

Sunday is coming, with all the joy it brings, but don't forget to acknowledge Saturday. It's the beginning that makes Sunday so much sweeter.