Kayla Smith

Picture it. Jerusalem. AD 33.

Did you read that like Sophia from Golden Girls? Because you should have.

There is no recorded account in Scripture about what happened today.

Jesus has been mocked, humiliated, abused, crucified, and buried. The tomb sealed. His disciples scattered. And the Sabbath day underway.

Today is a day of silence and hell.

Can you imagine being one of the twelve? Or one of the women that was present as He breathed His last? Or Joseph of Arimathea, “who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus” (Matthew 27:57), who just took the lifeless body of the Messiah off the cross and laid Him in his own tomb?

Oh and right, now it’s Sabbath. You do nothing until this day is over.

I went to a conference a few weeks ago, when going to conferences was still a thing we did, and the speaker talked about becoming a Friday, Saturday, Sunday community.

He talked about this cycle of death, burial, and resurrection, but specifically about how we have a tendency to skip through this day of hell. We have to be formed by all the days, yet we try to create resurrection Sunday without sitting through a silent Saturday, a day of hell, and allowing that to form us just as much as the new life that comes on the other side.

In a real big way, we are living a Saturday life right now. We are sitting in unknown territory. What we thought was secure and safe has been taken from us. We do not know what is going to happen tomorrow. We are a lot like those close to Jesus 2000 years ago.

I imagine that the thoughts going through their minds were not along the lines of, “Oh, but Sunday’s a’comin!”

I imagine they tracked a little closer to, “What.just.happened. He’s dead. What do we do? Will they come after us now? Are we safe? I just gave this man 3 years of my life! How dare he! Was none of it true?!”

And, honestly, I have similar thoughts myself.
“I’ve given this Man my life! Are you kidding me right now?”
“Am I safe?”
“Is none of this true?”
“Will He ever show up again?”

Yes, Christian, I know that Christ has the victory. I know that Sunday is coming. But I think we all need to tell our Saturday stories with a little more honesty going forward. We need to tell each other that sometimes, God is silent. Sometimes, we sit through days of hell and we have no clue if Sunday will come. Sometimes, Saturdays stay Saturdays and we don’t see resurrection for certain things.

Yet we can trust that even on a silent Saturday, God is still sovereign. Today is not out of place nor is it out of His control.

But it is Saturday.
For all they knew, He is dead.