But Lee J! Saturday comes in the middle!
Yes, yes it does. But I’m talking about a very specific Friday and Sunday.
A few years after the meridian of time, the world shook and the sky was darkened as Jesus’ last breaths rattled through his pierced chest. In the eyes of his followers, this was the darkest actual time of their lives (scripture records they could not see their hands in front of their eyes nor could they light a candle) and it was the time of least hope they had ever experienced. Their Light–the man they had followed for years, subsisting on His word–had been extinguished. He was gone. In their estimation and understanding never to return. The Sanhedrin and Romans had colluded together to rob them of the One who had brought them hope.
I’ve felt that depth of emotion a lot recently. I’ve felt the world devoid of joy as His followers had. I’ve been to the bottom. I feel like I’ve experienced a small part of what Jesus felt the night before in Gethsemane and again that Friday on the cross. I’ve felt the lack of hope and have wanted release from it so many times.
I’ve experienced Friday, the way Christ’s followers felt it. I’m grateful to know I don’t have to have the chronological wait for Sunday to come.
His followers endured the night, they dressed Him for burial and put Him in the Garden Tomb. The man they followed, the man who’s message they had hope in was gone. No one had ever overcome his own death before. Such a thing was impossible.
Saturday passed in mourning and surely grieving set in. That grief brought Mary to His tomb Sunday morning, looking for some resolution. Imagine the joy she felt when He called her by name and she turned and saw Him before her, whole, vibrant, and Alive!
The return of hope quickly spread among all His disciple and all rejoiced at the Truths He taught them.
That Sunday–the most important of all days in the history of the world–returned hope to humanity. The joy of His followers can be our joy as we consider the healing He brings.
That hope is mine if I choose it. That hope can come in the moment I choose it. I don’t have to wait calendar days for it to happen. It can come immediately.
Today might be Friday, but tomorrow is Sunday.