4-15-2017

Good Morning All,

      Luke 23:56; “Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment”.     

      It had to be the most difficult Sabbath ever.  The previous hours would have been a blur of action, emotion and insanity.  But on Saturday, the Sabbath, they would have had time to stop and reflect.  The enormity of what had happened would begin to settle in.  They were probably dispersed throughout the city.  Perhaps staying with relatives but living in fear that they were next to be executed and at a loss with Jesus dead and hastily placed in the grave.  The disciples, the women and all those who came from Galilee; all thought Jesus was the Anointed One.  Now he was dead along with all their hopes and dreams.  They went from hopeful and expectant to lost and in total despair.  They were inconsolable and lost.

    Have you ever had a day like that?  Perhaps you stopped to visit one of your parents or an aunt or uncle and their memory is not close to good.  Maybe you had an argument with your spouse and now there is a huge gap between you.  Perhaps your job is on the line or perhaps your loan to farm has been called into question.  Perhaps the report from the doctor was very bad.  Days like that are hard to take.  You are left wondering.  You have had a little time to digest the news and now you feel numb.  All of a sudden, you know only despair and emptiness.

    You and I know something that the disciples were unsure of.  We know that the first day of the week; Sunday or better yet, Easter is coming tomorrow!  The disciples benefitted from this but didn’t know it on Saturday.  But you and I, we do know about Easter on our painful Saturdays.  We know that the tomb is empty and that Jesus rose from the grave, having defeated sin, death and the devil.  We know that this victory has been given to us because God loves us.  You and I have the certainty of that victory given to us by Jesus.

    We may, actually probably, will all face a Saturday like what the disciples faced.  We still live in a broken world where pain and suffering occur.  But we face it knowing that our loving Savior is there to comfort us, to give us encouragement because tomorrow is Easter.  Tomorrow our victory is proclaimed, claimed and celebrated.  Jesus is Lord and victory is ours.  Hope is ours because Saturday will turn into Sunday; Saturday will become Easter; our Easter.  Our day to live in all eternity with Jesus in the new and great creation is in the near future.  Saturday may seem to last a long time, in fact it can be a life time but our new day of the week, Sunday our Easter will last an eternity. 

   Saturdays can be hard but hold onto to the promise of Jesus; our Easter will be greater than anything we can ever imagine.

Father of all grace, we give you thanks for our Easter.  Keep us strong on our Saturdays.  Give us the courage to face the challenges and pains of this world.  Keep our eyes focused on your great love, our great victory and life eternal with you.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret