So, this week we had Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and now it’s Saturday. What do we celebrate on Saturday? On the day after His crucifixion, Jesus lay in a tomb, for all intents and purposes, dead. All hope seemed to be lost. Today, we know that He arose on the third day. But, put yourself in the place of His followers when He walked the earth. They knew what He had told them, but did they really believe it? Did they remember that He said He would arise on the third day? I know myself pretty well and I would have been pulling an “Eeyore” attitude, with a, “Now, what? Our leader is dead and we could be in trouble with the authorities ourselves.” This is what Saturday is about…waiting. Perhaps despair and lack of trust. But, definitely waiting. No signs and wonders. No great miracles or preaching from a boat or a sea shore. Just waiting. Take a deep breath and imagine how you would have felt. The Lord has been crucified and is in a tomb. As Christians today, we have the Holy Bible that tells us that Resurrection Day really happened and that Jesus is alive. But, the disciples and other followers did not have the luxury of centuries of Easter Sundays to look back on as we do or the New Testament to read. Imagine their despair, if you will. Let us hope that they dared to believe that what Jesus said He would do would happen. We don’t know. We do know that it is Saturday and perhaps we should spend some time reflecting on what it would have been like to be a follower in the days of the crucifixion. We are waiting, perhaps with expectation, perhaps only with despair. But we are waiting.

In our faith journey, we spend a lot of time waiting. We wait for the answers to prayer for healing. We wait for the Lord to give us wisdom about a decision that we have to make. We wait for God to speak comfort and peace to our churning hearts when things don’t happen the way we think they should. But we are NOT waiting for news that Jesus has arisen because we know it happened. We know that He lives and we have eternal life because He left that tomb empty. But today is Saturday, and so we wait. We wait for the celebration that we call Easter, but we wait with total expectation and hope. There is no despair in our hearts because we know that He kept His promise and arose from that grave. Yes, it’s Saturday. We face the day with an expectation of a believer in Christ the Lord. Let’s do our best to share this Good News with someone today. They don’t need to despair. They don’t need to worry about waiting. Their hope lives, in the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

May you have a blessed Saturday and a really special Resurrection Sunday, celebrating the life of our Lord who loved us so much that He died for us. Hallelujah! He lives and reigns forever!

Forever by Kari Jobe (Easter video)