About the Saturday after Good Friday: Several people, among them C.S. Lewis, have written about the importance of this day. Lewis said, correctly I think, that the day was needed to contemplate the magnitude of what had happened at the cross and was needed to allow them – and us – to see the crucifixion and resurrection each in their own light as well as together. The day of desolation was needed, they contend. Had Jesus come out of the tomb five minutes after burial or even after one night, the resurrection would not have been seen as profound as it really was. I suspect they are right. It probably did give them a day to absorb the devastating death of Jesus; it probably did make the resurrection all that more amazing one day later. The living Son of God became real only after they accepted the death of Jesus. It would do us good to put ourselves in their shoes and contemplate the day as well. But I think silent Saturday serves another purpose. In a very real way, we live there. Our lives are filled with periods of dashed hope. A death occurs, a marriage breaks up, a debilitating illness strikes or a dozen other things can come and we are devastated. Day by day our lives resemble that Saturday more than the triumph of Easter Sunday. Sometimes our silent Saturdays; our periods of desolation without answers, go on for weeks, months or even years. We live, as they did on that Saturday, with no explanation or understanding of why. On that day they learned the hard part of a lesson that became clear to them only later; they learned to live in hope. Tom Corcoran, Missionary
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 21:21:01 +0000
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