Black Saturday
Pause:
Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down and focus on Jesus.
Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.
Read:
John 19v38-42: “After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.”
Going Deeper:
Death is so final.
Any of us who have lost a loved one know this painful reality. Death means that there will be no more memories made together in this life. No opportunity to say the things that were left unsaid. No chance to enjoy your favourite things together again. And no last chance to laugh, cry, share stories, or even just to be together.
This week my uncle passed away after being infected by the Corona Virus. I had never met him. We’d spoken once on the phone years ago. But we had never met. And with his death, the opportunity to ever meet him someday, passed away with him.
What about the death of a dream? Letting go of something that you have always wanted or desired. Something that you have lived for, worked for, sweated and fought for. And suddenly it is gone, and you need to lay it to rest.
On Black Saturday, Jesus’ disciples were left to process his death.
I don’t know if they were able to sleep on Friday night. What nightmares they had. Or, what they anxiously woke up feeling the next day.
Jesus was the man they had given up everything to follow. This was the man they had trusted and believed in. They loved Him.
They’d seen him preach to huge crowds, watched him heal the sick, raise the dead, perform miracles and set people free from demonic oppression. He had told them that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life. That He was the King of Kings. That He was God. And for a few years they’d been caught up in this exciting, exploding, hope-filled Jesus movement.
And now Jesus was dead.
They had lost their friend and they had lost their dream.
Somehow, they forgot, or couldn’t believe, or were confused about the many times Jesus had told them that He was going to die and rise again on the third day (Matthew 16v21, 17v22-23; Mark 8v31; John 20v9). And after His death, they simply went back to their old lives.
Black Saturday or Holy Saturday is a day of waiting, of uncertainty and of pause. It follows the horrors of Good Friday, when Jesus suffered, was beaten and mocked, nailed to a Cross, humiliated and killed in our place. And it hangs in the air, waiting, before Resurrection Sunday, as a day of Sabbath rest after Jesus accomplished the ultimate work on the Cross and said: “It is finished” (John 19v30).
Black Saturday is a time of uncertainty. A time of questioning.
- Where is God?
- Why would He let this happen?
- What does this mean for me?
- I don’t understand!
And for us living through the global Covid-19 pandemic, such a unique moment in the history of the world, where so much has changed and is changing, we are also left waiting. Left questioning. Left asking God “Where are you?”
While there is so much uncertainty, so much unknown and so much out of our control, Black Saturday is a day for us to come to God and trust Him, because the Good news of Black Saturday is that it is not the end of the story. The dark pause of Saturday gives way to the light, joy, excitement and hope of the Resurrection of our victorious King. And the new life and salvation that He has come to bring to us and our needy world.
Pray:
Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to your from this passage this morning.
Listen:
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning?
Apply:
What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text, and by the Spirit?