What about Saturday?

Today Saturday dawned bright and clear.  A beautiful spring day. Which feels fitting as we prepare to celebrate Easter tomorrow.  However yesterday, we observed Good Friday with somber remembrance of the tragedy of that day so many years ago.  To wake up not 10 hours later with a bright outlook and excited anticipation is a gift I hope we never take for granted.

I wonder what that Saturday was like.   Did nature grieve the death of our Savior along with His followers?  Or did they grieve in silence wondering how the world could just go on about their business when their world just came crashing down?

They did not know what was coming.  For all they knew (though Jesus had told them many times), that was the end.  They were probably tempted to give up hope. Maybe to believe the whole thing was a lie.  Maybe there was despair, fear, or even anger. How many of them risked hope? And how many were already looking for ways to numb the pain?

Were they warriors planning to avenge their fallen hero?  Did they feel like victims of someone’s betrayal? Or did they feel like lost sheep without their shepherd?

Today, my heart aches for so many living in their Saturday.  Living in the space that follows death and tragedy. A loss, a diagnosis, dashed dreams.  Even a broken heart.

In our Saturday, it can be tempting to not risk hope.  Hope can be painful. Hope can be confusing. Hope can make you feel a bit like a fool.  

It’s ok to grieve in your Saturday.  To mourn. To have feelings and emotions that don’t feel logical or socially acceptable.  Grief is a complicated thing.

But in our grief, remember what the disciples forgot.  That Christ prepared us for Saturday. While it all feels unknown, he told us all we needed to know ahead of time.  He told us we would have trouble, but He overcame the world. He told us that He went so that we could have a helper that would tell us all we needed to know from the Father.  He told us that He counted our tears and He saves the crushed in Spirit. He told us to not give up hope, but to keep fighting. He told us that while our outer selves is wasting away, we are being renewed day by day

And most of all, He told us that He was coming back.

That the things of this earth, no matter how painful or confusing, will pass away.  

Just as we now look toward Easter anticipating the victory, let us take heart in our current Saturday season.  Yes, let us feel the grief. Let us come to Jesus in our weakness. But we can grieve as those with hope. Because Jesus cares about our tears here and now.  But let us grieve with this knowledge that it is only temporary. That victory is coming, whether now, or in Eternity. As night always turns to morning, Saturday always is followed by Sunday.  

Of that one thing we can be sure.