"Early on the first day of the
week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the
stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter
and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the
Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!” So Peter and
the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other
disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at
the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was
behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying
there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth
was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple,
who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the
dead.) Then the disciples went back to their homes."
John 20:1-10
(From a sermon I preached on Easter Sunday, 2007)
For centuries, countless sermons have been preached on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus during this holy season the world calls “Easter”. I'm sure every preacher tasked with delivering a message on this most important day of the Church calendar has struggled with trying to bring some new revelation to the table about the passion, suffering and disgrace our Lord experienced on Good Friday, or what new angle of wonderment can be achieved by revisiting the amazing story of the empty tomb?I seriously doubt that there is any shred of truth left uncovered after two millennia of Holy Week observances.
We are all too familiar with the
events of Friday and Sunday. But what about Saturday? The fact is, there is
very little information in Scripture regarding what happened on Saturday.
Sure, we know that Jesus was
somewhere in the nether world releasing the captives who had previously died in
sin.
And we know that the chief priests
went back to Pilate to have the tomb sealed.
But where were the disciples? Where
were the women who had followed Jesus to care for His needs? Where were
His mother and brothers?
After what had just transpired on
Friday, one would hardly expect that they were in temple as usual Saturday
morning. We do know that the disciples were holed up some place, because when
Mary returned from the empty tomb, she found them all together. The fact that
Peter and John were the only ones who went to investigate the tomb indicates
that the other nine weren’t about to be seen in public. And even after they saw
the tomb and the grave clothes for themselves, they still wouldn’t allow
themselves to believe that Jesus was really alive.
After all, John was an eyewitness of
the final moments of Jesus’ life. There is no indication that any other
disciples were even at the crucifixion, since John is the only one mentioned in
any of the Gospels. He saw Jesus take His last breath. He saw the soldier
plunge a spear into His side, and water and blood gush out. He saw Nicodemus
and Joseph take down the body and wrap it in linen strips and spices. He saw
the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. He saw the rock rolled in front of the
cave. There was no denying it – Jesus was dead.
The one whom Jesus loved had just
seen all of his hopes and dreams dashed to the ground like discarded pottery.
Everything he had trusted in, believed in, put his faith in, was lying in a
dark cave. John had to have been wracked with grief and agony. What was ahead,
now that Jesus was gone? What would he do? The religious leaders surely would
be looking for the disciples soon enough, to do the same thing they did to
Jesus. I seriously doubt that John had any idea what was about to happen on
Sunday.
Yet Sunday came, and with it, the
unbelievable news that Jesus was alive! How could this be?
Sure, Jesus raised others from the dead.
But could He raise Himself back to life? John held in his hands the empty grave
clothes that had bound the body of the Lord just two days earlier. Everything
was so neat and orderly - hardly the work of grave robbers. Could it be that
this is what Jesus meant when He said that the Son of Man would be betrayed,
tortured, crucified, buried, and resurrected? Later that day, John’s questions
were answered, when Jesus appeared to His disciples in the flesh once again.
But what if John and the others
hadn’t waited until Sunday?
Judas didn’t wait, and he sealed his
fate for all eternity. The others could have run back to Galilee. They could
have hidden in their fishing villages, going back to their former professions,
and putting the whole nightmare behind them. But they didn’t.
Somewhere between the tragedy of
Friday and the triumph of Sunday, the Saturday of not knowing occurred.
There was no way that the disciples
could have known for sure that Jesus would be raised to life on Sunday. They
may have wondered if it was going to happen. But according to the repeated
accounts of their disbelief, it is almost certain that they didn’t hold out
much hope. Yet they held on.
The “Saturday of not knowing” in our
lives can be a very difficult place to dwell. When we are going through the
midst of Friday’s tragedy, it is very difficult to hold out hope for a
triumphant Sunday. Even when we know that Sunday is on the way, we don’t know
what Sunday is going to look like.
And what if Sunday comes late, or
even worse, not at all? What if the rest of our life is meant to be lived in
Saturday?
It is during the Saturdays of our
lives that verses like Romans 8:28 (“And we know that in all things God works
for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his
purpose”) can be very irritating. We can’t always see how God is working in our
Friday tragedies. Sometimes we don’t even care if He is working in them. We
just want Sunday to come and bring us some relief.
But God never promised that we won’t
have to experience the Friday tragedies in life. But He did promise that there
would always be a triumphant Sunday. The hardest part is getting through the
Saturday in between Friday and Sunday.
Unlike a real Saturday with exactly
24 hours in it, these virtual Saturdays can seem to last a lifetime. They’re
even worse if we’ve experienced a string of Fridays, loss upon loss, grief upon
grief. We begin to wonder if it could possibly get any worse. That’s when we
need to hold on tighter than ever to the truths and the promises of God’s Word.
When every sentence of the Bible
seems to fly in the face of reality, we have to remember that we serve a God
that transcends our physical plane. The God who created the physical realm
cannot be limited by it. The disciples did not know what would happen on
Sunday. As far as they knew, Sunday could have been just as bad as Saturday, or
maybe even worse. But they still held on. Out of fear, or confusion, or grief,
we don’t know, but they held on.
And then, miracle of miracles,
Sunday did come, and the news of a risen Savior lifted their spirits, and
eventually turned the world upside down.
What would have happened if the
disciples gave up on Saturday and left town? What if the women had gone back to
their homes and families?
Would anyone have noticed that the
tomb was empty?
Would anyone be around to see the
holes in Jesus’ hands and His side?
Would anyone have been there when He
stood on the mountain and proclaimed the great commission?
Would anyone have stood there gazing
up at the sky as Jesus ascended to His Father and His heavenly throne?
Would we be here today if the
disciples had not made it through Saturday?
There are many examples throughout
Scripture where people missed out on God’s blessings because they couldn’t wait
for their Sunday.
Lot’s daughters didn’t know if God
would provide them husbands after they fled Sodom, so they committed incest
with their father, and the result was the birth of two nations that would be a
constant source of struggle with Israel (Genesis 19:30-38).
Abram and Sarai got tired of waiting
in their “Saturday of not knowing” and decided to take matters into their own
hands when God took too long to make good on His promise. The result was the
birth of Ishmael, the forefather of the Arabs, and ultimately, the Muslim
religion (Genesis 16:-16).
King Saul decided his Sunday wasn’t
coming, and so he disobeyed a direct order from Samuel, and lost his kingdom as
a result (1 Samuel 13:5-14).
No matter what we go through on
Friday, Sunday will come. But we have to hang on through the “Saturday of not
knowing”. That’s when we need to stick together, to encourage and support each
other, just as the disciples did. And when Sunday finally arrives, we will be
able to stand and shout a victory cry: "He is not here, He is risen, just
as He said. Hallelujah! Amen."
Have a joyous Easter and a blessed
week!
Pastor David
