Good morning. On Friday, Jesus was crucified. On Sunday, Jesus was resurrected from the dead and revealed Himself to many. But what about Saturday, the day in between?
What do we know about this day? Not much really. Most likely, Pilate was back to business as usual. Most likely, the Jews who had conspired to murder Jesus had gone to synagogue and engaged in typical Sabbath day worship. Then they would have gone to their homes, or perhaps they couldn’t resist the temptation to get together and gloat. I would think that it would have been on all of their minds that they had finally succeeded in silencing Jesus. They had killed Jesus, that pesky preacher who performed miracles. They had killed Jesus, that unreasonable character who couldn’t be intimidated or bought off. I can imagine them lifting a goblet to celebrate their craftiness and resolve.
I wonder about the Roman Centurion, the one who upon witnessing the death of Jesus and seeing the travail His death cast upon the earth said, “Truly, this was the Son of God.” Matthew 27:54 I wonder what he did that following day? Would he have spent the day in prayer? Would he have tried to find out more about this Jesus whom he had helped to crucify? We don’t know, nothing more is said about him.
We know how some Roman soldiers spent that Saturday. They had been ordered to guard His tomb. Can you imagine any duty that would have seemed more dull and boring than to stand guard over a sealed tomb? What a way to spend a Saturday!
As for His disciples, it would seem that they were in hiding. When the women came to find them on Sunday morning and tell them that the tomb was empty, they were gathered together in a house. Why were they hiding? Because it would have seemed probable that the same people who had murdered Jesus might be looking for them to “tie up loose ends”. Their grief would have been great, as was their fear.
It is Saturday. It is the day between the Good Friday service and Easter Sunday. How will we spend the day? Will it be business as usual? Will we spend it in our own version of hiding, cloistered in our homes?
Perhaps this is a good day to consider what Jesus has done for us. Perhaps we could spend some time in prayer, asking the Father to guide our hearts to a place of greater spiritual awareness. Perhaps we could prepare ourselves for the best Easter Sunday we have ever enjoyed, one that is filled with thoughts of victory over death.
It is the Saturday in between and it needn’t be lost on us. Let’s spend it well with our Savior.
Vern