It’s still Holy Week. Good Friday is in the past now, and it’s Silent Saturday. I don’t know if that’s what others call today, but that seems like a good title to me. Yesterday, Good Friday was good for us but dark for the disciples, and they scattered.
Jesus was crucified and buried, thanks to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who got his body and prepared him for burial and put him in that borrowed tomb. (We didn’t even get to talk about this yesterday! There’s so much more to see!)
And we really don’t know what happened to Jesus in the time between Friday and Sunday. It’s kind of a mystery to us. Jesus said He would be in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. What does that mean? It’s only speculation.
We know what happens tomorrow. He arose from the dead and thoroughly defeated all the works of the enemy. He stripped the devil of all power and authority and took back the keys of death and hell and the grave and gave them to the church. We know what happened yesterday and we know what happens tomorrow, but we really don’t know what happened Saturday to Jesus.
But I want to look at what happened to the disciples.
Again, we don’t know all of it, but there are some things we do know. And we can only imagine what could have happened or what we would do if the person we committed to follow had just been crucified in a horrific death.
We know it was Passover. We know they had celebrated the Passover feast and during these eight days of Passover they were supposed to be remembering everything that God did in delivering them from Egypt. But my guess is they were not in any kind of mood to celebrate.
Did they? Did they celebrate? Maybe. Maybe they did because it was commanded of them to, but my guess is that they grieved. I used to think, “Man didn’t they believe what Jesus said?” He had said over and over that He was going to die and then be raised from the dead on the third day. He foretold it a lot.
We like to think we would just have believed it and act differently than they did. Jesus said it, I believe it, and that settles it. Right? But would we have? They had been with Jesus. They knew Him and trusted Him and were still confused.
We know in John 20 that Jesus appeared to Mary at the tomb and she ran to tell the disciples. “I have seen the Lord!” Peter and John ran to the tomb, and John made sure everyone knew he got there first, but Peter went past John and into the tomb and then John followed. The Bible says, “He saw and believed.”
…for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.
John 20:9 nlt
So really would we have?
They were gathered in a house that Sunday morning, not out of anticipation of the resurrection but out of fear. We will look at that tomorrow.
So what did they do Saturday? Probably what you and I would have done. Grieved. They were probably talking and remembering and processing and trying to wrap their minds around what was happening.
Just a hot second ago they were eating dinner with Jesus, then they were in the garden, then Judas kissed Him and then Jesus got arrested. He was flogged and crucified and buried. What just happened?
I can only imagine the torrent of emotions they were experiencing. Anger. Confusion. Pain. Loneliness. Grief. On some level they probably still had hoped He was going to free them from the tyranny of Rome. But now He’s dead! My guess is they were feeling all the feels. We know when Jesus came back and appeared to them He found them behind a locked door because they were afraid of what people would do to them.
Silent Saturday was just the day between Friday and Sunday when everything hurt and nothing made sense.
Some of you may feel like that right now.
There’s a lot we don’t know, but we do know this. We know they survived. The disciples survived Saturday and got to Sunday, where everything was made new and hope and joy were restored and Jesus was raised to life. We know they survived.
No matter what today looks like for you, let me encourage you. You’re going to survive. Do you know how I know this? Because I know God is with you, and He won’t fail you. We may not always know the details of what is happening until hindsight, but we can be sure when we are living in the middle and waiting for faith to be made sight and everything looks dark, He is with us. And He will be our anchor, holding us steady, until all is made new.
He will hold our hand and walk us from Friday all the way to Sunday.
Remember when your kids were little and you would hold your child’s hand as you crossed the street or as you walked through a crowd? You would hold on tightly because you didn’t want anything to happen to them. You wanted to help them through a precarious situation and help them get to the other side safely and in one piece.
As the parent, you were holding their hand even tighter than they were holding yours. Even if they let go, you were never going to let go. You were going to make sure they stayed safe all the way to the end. That is what God is doing for you right now. He’s holding you.
So what do we do in the dark middle? We trust Him. We trust that He’s there. If we can learn anything from the disciples on that Saturday, we can know God was working even when they couldn’t see it. Even when they didn’t understand, God was at work in a realm they couldn’t see, emptying graves and bringing dead things back to life.
As is our theme in Holy Week, we are going to ask ourselves some questions.
Am I only a disciple when things are happy or am I also a disciple when things are hard?
Am I only a disciple when things make sense or am I also a follower when I have no idea what’s happening?
The same covenant that provides everything for us that also requires everything from us. Part of what it requires of us is trust when we don’t understand and faith to hold on when we can’t see God working. Faith to hold onto Him when it looks dark all around us, knowing that He brings light to every situation when we invite Him in.
Hudson Taylor was on his way via a four month boat ride to China with a team of over 30 people. They were so close to land they could see it, but they couldn’t get to it because they hit a storm. It lasted over 14 days. It destroyed the mast. Their sails were down, and they were concerned their voyage would end in the bottom of the sea.
They did ultimately make it to shore, and he later shared their process in the darkness.
“But we kept up courage and cheered our weariness by constant communion with Him who is our hope and salvation.”
Hudson Taylor
If you find yourself lacking courage today, if you find you are weary in soul, let me encourage you to do what Hudson and his team did. Keep constant communion with the Lord.
If you find yourself in the middle, where the disciples found themselves on Saturday, keep constant communion with Him. Glance at the situation but gaze at Jesus. Put your focus on what the Word of God says and trust that He is working in a realm you cannot see right now for your good and His glory because He is.
Let’s pray.
Father, Friday happened and Sunday is coming but the middle can be so silent and dark. We choose to do what the Word says and draw near. I pray You will make yourself real to us. May Your presence be tangible. Strengthen us to stand and hold fast to our faith. We know you are holding us safe and steady, so we praise You even when we cannot see it.
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.