Silent Saturday

Silent Saturday

Silence.  A Holy Hush descended over the heavens and the earth.  Waiting.  Suspense hanging in the air like the ticking of a clock. 

It’s Saturday.  That in-between day.  A day of mourning.  A day of grief.  A day when the sun refused to shine.  A day of gloom, and shadows, and melancholy moments.  I like to imagine it is a day when it rained all day and the children couldn’t go out to play, but that might not have been the case.  This was a day of separation, when the eternal detached from the divine.  This was the day Jesus had been dreading.  Separation.  Estrangement from His Father, the one He had not been separated from since eternity began. 

I’m sure the Father’s heart was broken too, unable to be in communion with His only Son.  I remember when my daughter moved back to Canada, it felt as though my arm had been amputated.  I felt so lost without her.  No cellphones or FaceTime to be found here.  The pain within the Father must have been immense.

But dare I say it?  Within myself, I wonder if this was also a day of anticipation.  A day when heaven held its breath in hope and faith.  I can imagine our Abba Father and Holy Spirit sitting together, anticipating the next day.  Can you see the Holy Spirit saying to the Father, “I can’t wait to see their faces!!  They are going to be so surprised!” 

You see with anticipation comes expectancy.  They were expecting Jesus to rise.  It was a given.  It was promised that Jesus would fulfill the prophecy, just like He had fulfilled all the rest. 

Did the angels know?  I would think they did, the disciples had been told on the way to Jerusalem, but had they really heard or understood?  “On the third day He will be raised to life again.” Matthew 20:19. I would imagine heaven would have been a buzz, whispers of excitement in every corner.  “Jesus will be raised to life, just wait, and see!  The prophecy will be fulfilled.  Oh, isn’t this just so exciting!”

Anticipation, like faith and hope, expectancy and trust, the forerunners of a promise fulfilled.  As so many have quoted before me – Sunday’s Coming!  And Jesus will rise again, completing the picture, finishing the task set before Him, against all odds.  The Apostles Creed says it so well, “On the third day He rose again from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.”

And so, I ask myself, what is the level of anticipation in my barometer?  Not just for Sunday because we know that Jesus rose again, we celebrate this, He lives!  But am I anticipating His return?  Am I looking forward to that day that Jesus returns with expectancy, trusting that not only did Jesus rise just as the prophecies predicted but He will return for His bride?  Is there a longing in my heart to see the coming King?

Revelations 1:7 tells us this, ““Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.”  It is foretold, it is prophesied.  Jesus is coming again.  He will return and so we wait with anticipation and expectancy and cry with all the saints, “Come LORD Jesus, Come!”

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”  Revelations 22:20,

“And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.”  2 Timothy 4:6-8