The Silence of Saturday

[NOTE: I apologize for the long delay between posts. I have had some issues with my Internet service, followed by a bout with a virus. I will make up for it next week!]

Maundy Thursday. Good Friday. Easter Sunday. Even in our popular observances, Saturday of the Passion Week is often overlooked. I learned that the Orthodox call it "The Great Sabbath," since on it the Creator once again rested. Jesus knew His work was finished, and that the vindication of the Father was coming.

But what about the disciples and the other followers of Jesus? What about Mary, His mother? What about the rest of His family, even if they did not yet believe in Him? Saturday was a day of darkness and despair. The life of Jesus appeared to be over, His mission unfulfilled. The hope of the Messiah was once again crushed for many in Israel. Without hope, filled with fear, Saturday, their Sabbath, would have been a day of agony.

I believe it is important that we not forget Saturday. As Christians after the Resurrection, we know how the story came out. We like to jump from the cross to the empty tomb as quickly as possible, moving to the joy and hope that we have in Jesus' victory over sin and death. We forget the pain, the agony, the depths of sorrow those who loved Jesus experienced. But it was in the despair created by the cross that the joy created by the empty tomb became possible.

Jesus' plan caught everyone, even His disciples, by surprise. They had their Messianic expectations shattered, only to be remade in the light of the Resurrection. Salvation would not be political or national rescue, but the even greater and deeper rescue from the power of sin and death. As Jesus' followers mourned on Saturday, they were being prepared for something so great they had yet to imagine it.

Today, even as we look forward to our celebrations tomorrow, let's not forget that expectation. Jesus does not come to solve the problems of our life (although He certainly does do that); He came to solve the problem of our death. In dying and rising, He conquered death. He changed the way we think about God and salvation. Saturday was a day to let old expectations die, and to open the heart to new and better expectations. May we change our expectations in the light of what Jesus has done for us.