Why I Love Today

Today is the day before Easter and in my opinion, it’s one of the most significant days of the year. To be clear today is Saturday. The forgotten day of Easter weekend.

Today was the day of darkest despair for followers of Jesus. On Friday, when Jesus died, I’d imagine things hadn’t yet sunk in.  But on Saturday they woke up and had to remind themselves that the Savior who they put their hope in had seemingly failed them.

All hope was lost.

This was supposed to be God’s promise fulfilled. They were supposed to be freed by Him. They were expectant and confident that the promise of the last several centuries was supposed to come to pass through Jesus. And at this point, He laid lifeless in a tomb.

One thing not often mentioned is Saturday is the longest part of Easter weekend. We are told to speculate that Christ was crucified at noon on Good Friday and breathed his last breath around 3pm. The Bible is also clear that by sunrise on the third day Jesus had risen.

That means the longest portion of the three days was on Saturday in the moments of despair…in the moments of waiting, questioning and confusion.

Imagine the heartbreak Christ followers experienced. You talk about feeling like you have a sign from God – these people had hundreds of prophecies recorded centuries ago as confirmation that Jesus was the Messiah. Now he lay lifeless in a tomb. If anyone could fix this Jesus could but it appeared Jesus himself was powerless.

It’s interesting because we know the end of the story. We know Jesus rose the next day. Saturday is not a day of despair for us.

Friday is the day we reflect on Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. Sunday is the day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Saturday is the day we workout, grocery shop, do laundry, and binge watch Netflix. We don’t worry on Saturday because we know how things play out in history.

And yet many of us are currently living in a Saturday moment filled with worry, anxiety, and despair.

You thought God gave you a promise. You were expectant. You were excited.  And now it appears that there is no possible way it could come to pass.

Maybe you’re not where you thought you’d be in life. Maybe you thought this season would be over sooner. Maybe you feel God has failed you. Maybe you thought God gave you a promise, showed you a sign, or worst of all you thought if God cared for you you wouldn’t be going through what you’re going through. You’re in a state of questioning, confusion, or disbelief just as Christ followers of that day were.

During the time of despair, I’m sure some thought if God would just give them a sign that He was going to come through they would still believe, as we often do today. And yet in the twenty-four hours on Saturday, there was not one sign given to any of them from God about how He would still fulfill His promise.

How do we know? I’d imagine if anyone had an inkling Christ would rise they would have been at His tomb. Now that would be something you wouldn’t want to miss.  But instead we’re told Mary Magdalene brought spices to his tomb on Sunday morning to anoint his body – a beautiful sign of honor but still an indication that Mary thought he was dead.

And it’s not as though she was just late to the party.  She was the first one He appeared to following His resurrection.

Sometimes in trials I think we feel if we don’t understand or don’t know how God is going to keep His promise we feel guilty about having a lack of faith. I’d like to point out here that Mary bringing spices to Jesus’ tomb was not a sign of a lack of faith or trust. She was bringing them to his tomb because she witnessed her Savior die on a cross a day and a half earlier. She acted in faith given what she knew to be reality.

But thankfully her reality was not the true reality. On the third day, early in the morning Christ rose from the grave!

And do you know what Christ was doing on Saturday? When seemingly he lay lifeless in a tomb? Christ was storming the gates of Hell and conquering death. He was paving a way for all of humanity to be with Him. He was defeating the most evil power in the universe.

Don’t tell me Christ isn’t working through your situation. He was conquering death when everyone thought he was dead.

How many Christ followers thought the day after what they saw as the end of the world would be the happiest day in history?

Regardless of what you can see, Sunday is coming! Sunday is the day God’s promise was fulfilled! And it was even better than what Christ followers had in mind.  They thought God’s promise was deliverance from the Romans – the ruling power of the day. Instead Christ set humanity free of all sin and bridged the gap between God and man so that we may be with God forever. Talk about exceeding expectations.

We know how the story ends. Tomorrow is the day God proved His victory overall. Today, however, is the day He proves no matter what you’re going through and no matter what you can see all of God’s promises are YES in Christ. Maybe even a Heck Yes.

Believe in God’s promises. Your Saturday won’t last forever. Sunday’s almost here.