I posted this on Facebook on April 8, 2023, and I felt led to update and repost here today. I pray it encourages you!
We rarely talk about Saturday. It’s often called “silent Saturday,” yet so very much is said in the silence.
Silent Saturday is the day between Jesus’ death and resurrection. I imagine those who followed Jesus at the time were experiencing an array of emotions like anyone mourning and grieving the loss of someone they love. Lost, confused, devastated, doubtful, fearful, full of unanswered questions and what ifs. It seems none of His disciples and followers remembered the entirety of His promise, which said that after His death He would be raised to life on the third day (Matthew 17:23).
I am not sure they knew it, but they were in the “in between”:
In between sorrow and joy.
In between doubt and belief.
In between fear and faith.
In between confusion and confirmation.
In between the present struggle and the eternal solution.
In contrast, the Pharisees and religious leaders remembered exactly what Jesus said, as we read in Matthew 27:63. They told Pontius Pilate:
“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ” Matthew 27:63 NIV
They then requested that Jesus’ tomb be secured both by sealing the stone and setting a guard (Matthew 27:64-66). So, we see the religious leaders persecute Jesus even in death. While alive, they tried to shut Him up and shut Him down. In death, they tried to shut Him in. They wanted what looked to be the end to be the actual end, thereby eliminating the inconvenient in between.
His followers fretted. The Pharisees tried to bring finality in their own way. For all of them, though, the silence lasted only a day. For us, we know sometimes in life the silence and “in between” can last for a season. As followers, we can grapple with the same things – sorrow, grief, doubt, fear, confusion – in the uncertainty of the in between.
Whether there’s been silence for a day or a season, I want to encourage us all. Just like Sunday came and broke the silence then, Sunday is coming to the break the silence now:
Our Father will do what He says.
Our Father will fulfill His Word.
Our Father will deliver on His promises.
Be still and know (Psalm 46:10) that as surely as the sun (Son) rises, joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).
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