Saturday, the day in between the crucifixion and the resurrection, was the most hopeless day in history. We take a few minutes today to consider what must have been in the minds and hearts of those who mourned for Jesus.
The Bible doesn't tell us a great deal about what the disciples and the women who followed Jesus were doing on Saturday other than observing the Sabbath. The Bible doesn't tell us what they were doing when the Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday, but we know what they weren't doing: they weren't on Resurrection Watch. Not a single one of them went to the tomb on the third day expecting to see Jesus perform the greatest miracle of all. None of the disciples, none of the women, and not even Jesus' own mother stood in front of the tomb waiting breathlessly for the stunning sight of Jesus emerging victorious over death. Many times Jesus predicted His death, but He also predicted His resurrection. The prophecies about His death have come true. Did those who loved Him not yet understand that the prophecies about His resurrection must also come true?
That would appear to be the case, but lest we frown on their unbelief I think we have to consider how many times we ourselves have doubted the word of God. How many times has God rescued us? How many times have we doubted He would rescue us once again? How many times have we read the promises of the Scriptures and thought to ourselves, "Well, I can see God coming through for people who do extraordinary things for His kingdom. But why should He do it for me? I'm just an ordinary believer. I'm not a pastor or a teacher or a missionary. I'm just an ordinary person living an ordinary life." But the truth is, everyone in the Bible was just an ordinary person living an ordinary life. What made their lives extraordinary was the presence of the Lord in them. We can all have that!
The Bible tells us that the remaining eleven disciples are gathered together behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders. (John 20:19) So we know the disciples are afraid for their lives during the long hours between the crucifixion and the resurrection. But these are not cowardly men and we mustn't think they are. They gave up their former occupations to follow Jesus. They stood with Him against the repeated verbal assaults of the religious leaders. They endured weariness, hunger, and thirst while working alongside Him as He healed the sick and taught the word of God for hours and days at a time. But now, as their Master lies dead in the tomb, they must be thinking, "If the Jewish leaders were bold enough to execute Jesus, the leader of our group, surely they won't think a thing of having all of us executed. We may soon be dragged before Pilate and sentenced to death! Tens of thousands of people revered the name of Jesus of Nazareth, yet the chief priests and Pharisees managed to have Him killed. Who is going to care if we are killed too? We are former fishermen and tax collectors. We may all be on crosses soon!" The Lord knew what He was doing when He built an instinct for self-preservation into all of us. Without the desire to protect our lives, most of us wouldn't live very long. It's natural that these men would want to preserve their lives if they can. It's natural that they wouldn't be sitting at the tomb, waiting for a resurrection they aren't sure is coming, when Roman guards are standing there. For all the disciples know, there are warrants out for their arrest. If so, showing up at the tomb would be like turning themselves in.
I picture these men stunned and disbelieving that all their dreams have come to this. They were certain Jesus was the Messiah. They staked their reputations on it. They left everything to follow Him. (Matthew 19:27) As the popularity of Jesus grew, as He performed more and more miracles, as He bested the religious leaders time and again, they could see nothing ahead but good things. They pictured Jesus restoring the kingdom to the Jews and ruling over it as King of Israel. They pictured themselves as His top officials. They were like the guy who wrote the lyrics of the 80s song that says, "The future's so bright I gotta wear shades." Now they don't know if they even have a future. If they make it out of Jerusalem alive, what's next? How can they go back to living ordinary lives after experiencing the extraordinary?
We don't know for certain whether Mary the mother of Jesus and the other women were at the same place as the disciples. We know the women were aware of the disciples' location, because after Mary Magdalene sees the risen Lord, she goes to tell the men what has happened. (John 20:18) It's possible that everyone who was closest to the Lord was gathered together in the same place following the crucifixion, trying to draw comfort from knowing they all shared the same shock and grief.
Some of my readers may have lost a child, and if so you know what the mother of Jesus was feeling. She witnessed the death of her precious son. She was helpless to do anything to keep Him in this world. She expected, as all parents do, that He would outlive her. Never did she imagine Him being executed in the prime of His life. After all, when the angel Gabriel announced that she would miraculously bear a child conceived by the Holy Spirit, he said, "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; His kingdom will never end." (Luke 1:31-33) Where is the crown Mary's son was promised? Where is the throne Jesus was meant to inherit? All Mary knows is that her son wore a cruel crown of thorns and was nailed to a cross. She must have wondered, "Did God lie to me or change His mind? Or did I misunderstand what the angel said to me? Or did an angel appear to me at all? Maybe I'm insane and none of those things ever happened to me. I expected Jesus would be declared King of Israel, but yesterday I wept inconsolably as I watched Him being placed in a tomb that isn't even His. What is wrong with this picture? How can my precious son Jesus reign over Jacob's descendants forever if He's lying dead in a tomb?"
I think that up til now Mary had concentrated on all the positive things that were said to her about her son while pushing to the back of her mind the things she didn't understand. When Mary and her husband Joseph presented Jesus at the temple, a man named Simeon recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah and he made this prophecy to Mary, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." (Luke 2:34-35) Simeon, through the power of the Holy Spirit, saw in his mind the piercing of Jesus' heart by the sword of the Roman soldier and he knew that Jesus' mother would be pierced to her very core by the death of her son. He knew Mary would witness the death of a child. But Mary had no idea what to make of Simeon's prophecy and so she concentrated on the promise of a throne for her beloved son.
The women who followed Jesus from Galilee, such as Mary Magdalene out of whom He cast seven demons (Luke 8:2) never expected to be mourning His death. They never expected to spend the Passover weekend preparing spices to take to His tomb. They must have thought, "But we saw Him heal the sick! But we saw Him cast out demons! But we saw Him raise the dead! How can He be dead Himself? How could He save all these others and be unable to save Himself? Did He not have the power to escape death? Could He not have called down legions of angels to fight for Him? And if He could not do these things, does this mean He isn't who we thought He was?"
As we have so many times in the past few days, we turn again to the words of the prophet Isaiah who foresaw the death of the Messiah seven hundred years before His birth and asked, "Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this?" (Isaiah 53:1b) The disciples, Mary, and the women who followed Jesus never thought God's saving power would look like this. They can't reconcile the idea of a suffering Servant with a conquering King. But that's alright, because everything will soon become clear. They will soon understand how a Messiah who died can still someday inherit the throne of David and reign over the whole world in righteousness. They will soon be comforted, invigorated, and renewed by the miracle of the resurrection.
Below is a link to a video that my church plays every Easter morning. It talks about the things that went on during and after the crucifixion of Christ, prior to the resurrection. It talks about the most hopeless day in the history of the world, but it also reminds us that the most hopeful day in the history of the world was just around the corner. Friday was dreadful. Saturday was hopeless. But Sunday came and everything changed.
It's Friday
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