Don't Forget Saturday
It being Easter weekend, there is often a great deal of thoughtfulness into the historical events of this momentous occasion. My thought process was no exception. While listening to my friend picking away at a guitar in my living room, I caught myself staring out the window at the setting sun. The clouds were flushed with a dusky pink colour while the final beams of orange light started to fade into the darkness that would soon be considered nighttime.
And I thought.
Good Friday is such a huge part of the Christian faith; man's fall from glory, all the rules and regulations of sacrifices, all the cries out to God for deliverance, all the prophesies, all the visions and dreams that cast the image of the redeemer ... all point to Him. Every chapter, every verse, every letter of the Bible point to the salvation that God provided through Jesus. Good Friday wasn't just the day that Jesus was hung on the cross, it was the day that every piece of history to that point led up to. It was for that weekend that God had so carefully laid out by sending Jesus to Earth as a total man, but still totally part of God and caught in the worship of the trinity. Every prediction that Jesus made through the 4 Gospel books pointed to the climax of the plan - the He, fully man and fully God, would have to die. He would have to die to take our place on the conviction stand, to come before the just and righteous Father and claim our freedom through his taking our place.
Jesus came to fulfill what the prophets had said about him ages before and to set us free.
Then came Sunday.
The glorious day when the doorway to the grave again saw sunlight and Jesus was proclaimed not dead but alive and living. While historical events led to the crucifixion of Jesus, the story was far from over. The one who came to save the lost had indeed saved the lost! He had indeed defeated death! He had indeed claimed us as His by taking our disasters and gave us beauty. What a concept. He defeated the enemy all as part of the plan and came back to give us a very clear indication that we had been forgiven. All the crap that we've been carrying around, all the burdens, all the mistakes, all the times we've hurt people, all the lies, all the thefts, all the disobedience ... was taken from our shoulders, placed on Him, and then banished. Sunday marks the day of freedom as we're no longer caught in this web of hopelessness. This is the true climax! This is when we are truly able to proclaim our release! There is a light at the end of this tunnel and that is all due to the incredible rebound from death. The significance of this day in the faith of followers of Jesus is astronomical - it marks our life.
But while I was looking at the rosy clouds, I found myself wondering... what about Saturday?
Imagine this: you are from the time of Ancient Israel when Jesus Christ was still walking around. Here was someone who was teaching unbelievable ideas - be kind to others even when they steal from you or tear you down, or to be humble and serve others even though all of society encourages confidence and pride, or even that children need to be cared for and inspired despite the fact that society only places value on adult life. This man, this incredibly 'out-there' guy, was claiming to be sent from God ... the Messiah! The one that you had been waiting for your whole life as a person living in Israel. Not only this, but there were rumours that He was coming to deliver you from your bondage within the Roman Empire and make you a solidified nation once again! You heard about the incredible things He was doing like turning water into wine at that recent wedding, or healing the blind, and even healing that crippled guy who sat by the gate all the time. This was lining up with what Isaiah had talked about, about what Zachariah had mentioned ... could it be true?!
He came to Jerusalem and you couldn't be more excited than to clap eyes on Him: here finally, was the one to set you free! He was here!
Then came Friday.
They convicted Him and brought him before the authorities because He was claiming equal status with God. They had Him whipped. They beat Him, spat on Him ... what horrible treatment for the one who was supposed to be the Messiah. But you clung to the belief that He was coming to save you. He had to.
But then they strung Him up on that cross. What was happening? There He was, the one who was supposed to save you, the one who was supposed to set your people free, hanging on that tree. But He had to save you!
Jesus died. He was stabbed with the spear and you saw the water and blood run out. This was not good - He had come to set you free and now He was gone!
Then came Saturday.
You wake up in the morning, look around your grubby little room, and think back to the events of the day before. It must be a dream. It cannot be real; He was supposed to deliver you from the Empire! But the more you think and recall those shocking memories, the more you realize that it was real.
Fast forward to the 21st century. So often in the Christian faith we skim over the Saturday. Good Friday is so important as it signifies when Jesus died for us. Easter Sunday is even more important because we come to realize that death couldn't hold Jesus back and that through all the torment and pain and torture that He went through, He still, by His power in and of God, overcame sin once and for all. Both are central to the Christian belief system, but I think it's important to not forget about Saturday.
Saturday, the day when the followers of Jesus realized that He had died. That He was gone. That they had killed Him. Can you imagine the hopelessness? They had lost their Messiah. The fear? They now had to face the Roman Empire and those who had set themselves against Jesus.
It's this despair, this dejected desperation that makes the peace and joy of Easter Sunday so much more powerful. Yes, He rose on Sunday, but when you look at this return from death in the context that His followers did? It's more than a miracle: it's all your hopes, your dreams, the prophesies, the beliefs, the core of what you had been taught, coming to fruition, becoming real. And it was so much more! He came to set people free from the bondage of darkness, not from the Roman Empire.
Jesus won the far greater war. The spiritual war, one much more devastating than the plight of those in Israel.
This weekend is the backbone to the Christian belief system. So much happened during these three days historically and it inspires such thankfulness and awe even recalling it 2000 years later. My hope is that we won't lose this wonder at such sacrifice and that we will come to terms with the flooring reality of what Jesus did.
And I thought.
Good Friday is such a huge part of the Christian faith; man's fall from glory, all the rules and regulations of sacrifices, all the cries out to God for deliverance, all the prophesies, all the visions and dreams that cast the image of the redeemer ... all point to Him. Every chapter, every verse, every letter of the Bible point to the salvation that God provided through Jesus. Good Friday wasn't just the day that Jesus was hung on the cross, it was the day that every piece of history to that point led up to. It was for that weekend that God had so carefully laid out by sending Jesus to Earth as a total man, but still totally part of God and caught in the worship of the trinity. Every prediction that Jesus made through the 4 Gospel books pointed to the climax of the plan - the He, fully man and fully God, would have to die. He would have to die to take our place on the conviction stand, to come before the just and righteous Father and claim our freedom through his taking our place.
Jesus came to fulfill what the prophets had said about him ages before and to set us free.
Then came Sunday.
The glorious day when the doorway to the grave again saw sunlight and Jesus was proclaimed not dead but alive and living. While historical events led to the crucifixion of Jesus, the story was far from over. The one who came to save the lost had indeed saved the lost! He had indeed defeated death! He had indeed claimed us as His by taking our disasters and gave us beauty. What a concept. He defeated the enemy all as part of the plan and came back to give us a very clear indication that we had been forgiven. All the crap that we've been carrying around, all the burdens, all the mistakes, all the times we've hurt people, all the lies, all the thefts, all the disobedience ... was taken from our shoulders, placed on Him, and then banished. Sunday marks the day of freedom as we're no longer caught in this web of hopelessness. This is the true climax! This is when we are truly able to proclaim our release! There is a light at the end of this tunnel and that is all due to the incredible rebound from death. The significance of this day in the faith of followers of Jesus is astronomical - it marks our life.
But while I was looking at the rosy clouds, I found myself wondering... what about Saturday?
Imagine this: you are from the time of Ancient Israel when Jesus Christ was still walking around. Here was someone who was teaching unbelievable ideas - be kind to others even when they steal from you or tear you down, or to be humble and serve others even though all of society encourages confidence and pride, or even that children need to be cared for and inspired despite the fact that society only places value on adult life. This man, this incredibly 'out-there' guy, was claiming to be sent from God ... the Messiah! The one that you had been waiting for your whole life as a person living in Israel. Not only this, but there were rumours that He was coming to deliver you from your bondage within the Roman Empire and make you a solidified nation once again! You heard about the incredible things He was doing like turning water into wine at that recent wedding, or healing the blind, and even healing that crippled guy who sat by the gate all the time. This was lining up with what Isaiah had talked about, about what Zachariah had mentioned ... could it be true?!
He came to Jerusalem and you couldn't be more excited than to clap eyes on Him: here finally, was the one to set you free! He was here!
Then came Friday.
They convicted Him and brought him before the authorities because He was claiming equal status with God. They had Him whipped. They beat Him, spat on Him ... what horrible treatment for the one who was supposed to be the Messiah. But you clung to the belief that He was coming to save you. He had to.
But then they strung Him up on that cross. What was happening? There He was, the one who was supposed to save you, the one who was supposed to set your people free, hanging on that tree. But He had to save you!
Jesus died. He was stabbed with the spear and you saw the water and blood run out. This was not good - He had come to set you free and now He was gone!
Then came Saturday.
You wake up in the morning, look around your grubby little room, and think back to the events of the day before. It must be a dream. It cannot be real; He was supposed to deliver you from the Empire! But the more you think and recall those shocking memories, the more you realize that it was real.
Fast forward to the 21st century. So often in the Christian faith we skim over the Saturday. Good Friday is so important as it signifies when Jesus died for us. Easter Sunday is even more important because we come to realize that death couldn't hold Jesus back and that through all the torment and pain and torture that He went through, He still, by His power in and of God, overcame sin once and for all. Both are central to the Christian belief system, but I think it's important to not forget about Saturday.
Saturday, the day when the followers of Jesus realized that He had died. That He was gone. That they had killed Him. Can you imagine the hopelessness? They had lost their Messiah. The fear? They now had to face the Roman Empire and those who had set themselves against Jesus.
It's this despair, this dejected desperation that makes the peace and joy of Easter Sunday so much more powerful. Yes, He rose on Sunday, but when you look at this return from death in the context that His followers did? It's more than a miracle: it's all your hopes, your dreams, the prophesies, the beliefs, the core of what you had been taught, coming to fruition, becoming real. And it was so much more! He came to set people free from the bondage of darkness, not from the Roman Empire.
Jesus won the far greater war. The spiritual war, one much more devastating than the plight of those in Israel.
This weekend is the backbone to the Christian belief system. So much happened during these three days historically and it inspires such thankfulness and awe even recalling it 2000 years later. My hope is that we won't lose this wonder at such sacrifice and that we will come to terms with the flooring reality of what Jesus did.
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