Grave Thoughts

Good Friday was the day in which everything seemed to have gone wrong but was vindicated by the glorious resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday.  The abrupt end of Jesus' life on Good Friday would erupt in endless life on Easter Sunday.  Friday death wins for the last time for on Sunday death is defeated for all time and eternity.

But what about Saturday?  What happened in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday?  No nails were driven through flesh into wood, no stone was rolled away from an empty tomb - one might easily be tempted to say, "Move along, there's nothing to see here."  Jesus' disciples were among that group who believed nothing was happening.

While the guards watched over the tomb, the disciples gathered to lick their wounds in disbelief of all that had happened instead of gathering to praise the Object of their faith in expectation: "Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen" (Mk 16:14).

If I were from Jersey, I might say, "Not for nothing Christ went to tomb."  In truth, it was not for nothing, it was the place where death and the Deliverer met and our deliverance was found: "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit" (1 Pet 3:18).  His body was laid to rest but his Spirit was wakened in the darkness.  The victory over death celebrated on Easter was the result of the encounter with death in the tomb.

It appeared to human eyes that there was nothing to see here.  But I can tell you that the armies of heaven and hell saw plenty.  The Christ was not quiet in the tomb, only his body lay there.  The Deliver and death were coming face to face, and the armies of the Lord of Light were in holding their breath in expectation while the armies of the Despot of Darkness were gasping in dread as they encountered the presence of the Living God.

Perhaps you are going through a period where it doesn't seem that God is at work in your life.  Your prayers seem to go unanswered, there doesn't seem to be any forward motion in your life or circumstance.  Don't make the mistake of thinking that God is inactive just because you can't see what is happening.  As Jesus clearly proclaimed,  “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (Jn 5:17).

The seeming defeat of Friday and the spectacular victory of Sunday are connected by the grave darkness of Saturday in which God is working out his plans beyond human sight.  Jus' Sayn.