I don't know when or where it was I first heard a sermon on the "Saturday" of Easter Weekend. In fact, I had never given much thought to the day at all. Good Friday is obviously celebrated as is Resurrection Sunday for the same obvious reasons. But who has ever given a second thought to Saturday. I mean, geez it was so unimportant THE BIBLE ITSELF doesn't even hardly mention the Saturday of Jesus' death at all. There are FIVE WHOLE VERSES in the book of Matthew that talk about Saturday. And this part is only to point out that soldiers were sent to stand guard and put a seal on the tomb. What is most interesting to me is that the priests and Pharisees remembered Jesus' words stating he would die and then rise again on the third day which is the exact reason they asked for the guards in the first place.
Anyway...
But we never think about Saturday. It's almost Black Saturday. In Catholicism, the Saturday is actually known as Holy Saturday. Of course, most know that in Bible times the Sabbath was celebrated on Saturday. And it was against all religious law to break the Sabbath which included carrying things or working at all. Sabbath was to be kept holy and revered in Bible times. Any town or city would ultimately shut down on Saturdays.
What do I do on Saturdays here in China you may ask? Oh a lot of laying around, watching movies, avoiding school/work related things like the plague and occasionally get out of the house to walk around and inhale the nice smoggy air. This past Saturday was no different.
Going back, I cannot even imagine the grief and sorrow that enveloped any of Jesus' followers. I know the pain of losing a parent but the death of someone who was...more of a person than any other person that had ever lived? A man that they were in constant presence of for 3 years? A man that claimed he would would save the entire world from their sins and that people could be reborn? A man that had made the dumb speak, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame leap, fed 5000 people, turned water to wine and countless other miracles that aren't even mentioned in the Bible? This man was more than a man. He was a Savior. THE Savior. And to have my Savior die? I can't even imagine what the disciples felt like.
As humans, life to us is so...finite. We get one shot so don't screw it up. YOLO. Live your life. Play your cards the right way. All these quotes and tidbits to tell us to make the most of life. For Jesus' followers at that time, they were done. I mean the church leaders had already come after Jesus so who's to say they weren't next? The disciples were probably just shut up in closets all day, crying and shivering in fear for their lives and wondering why Jesus had abandoned them.
And Mary the mother? By this time the woman was in her 40s but was the one that found favor as a Godly woman in her teens. She's the one person that had known Jesus' His entire life and watched Him grow up. What would it be like to have the perfect child? One that never broke the rules or sassed his mother? That's an odd concept to even think about. But as merely humans, we can never have a clear, complete concept of God.
Our lives here on Earth are in a constant state of Saturday. We are physically separated from God. Yes, God longs to come and dwell within each of us and will as long as we invite him in. I think that once we do, it almost becomes Saturday evening. And in living our lives in prayer and meditation on God and doing His will we become ever closer to Him and that wonderful Sunday Morning of his triumphant return.
Anyway...
But we never think about Saturday. It's almost Black Saturday. In Catholicism, the Saturday is actually known as Holy Saturday. Of course, most know that in Bible times the Sabbath was celebrated on Saturday. And it was against all religious law to break the Sabbath which included carrying things or working at all. Sabbath was to be kept holy and revered in Bible times. Any town or city would ultimately shut down on Saturdays.
What do I do on Saturdays here in China you may ask? Oh a lot of laying around, watching movies, avoiding school/work related things like the plague and occasionally get out of the house to walk around and inhale the nice smoggy air. This past Saturday was no different.
Going back, I cannot even imagine the grief and sorrow that enveloped any of Jesus' followers. I know the pain of losing a parent but the death of someone who was...more of a person than any other person that had ever lived? A man that they were in constant presence of for 3 years? A man that claimed he would would save the entire world from their sins and that people could be reborn? A man that had made the dumb speak, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame leap, fed 5000 people, turned water to wine and countless other miracles that aren't even mentioned in the Bible? This man was more than a man. He was a Savior. THE Savior. And to have my Savior die? I can't even imagine what the disciples felt like.
As humans, life to us is so...finite. We get one shot so don't screw it up. YOLO. Live your life. Play your cards the right way. All these quotes and tidbits to tell us to make the most of life. For Jesus' followers at that time, they were done. I mean the church leaders had already come after Jesus so who's to say they weren't next? The disciples were probably just shut up in closets all day, crying and shivering in fear for their lives and wondering why Jesus had abandoned them.
And Mary the mother? By this time the woman was in her 40s but was the one that found favor as a Godly woman in her teens. She's the one person that had known Jesus' His entire life and watched Him grow up. What would it be like to have the perfect child? One that never broke the rules or sassed his mother? That's an odd concept to even think about. But as merely humans, we can never have a clear, complete concept of God.
Our lives here on Earth are in a constant state of Saturday. We are physically separated from God. Yes, God longs to come and dwell within each of us and will as long as we invite him in. I think that once we do, it almost becomes Saturday evening. And in living our lives in prayer and meditation on God and doing His will we become ever closer to Him and that wonderful Sunday Morning of his triumphant return.
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