59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock.
-Matthew 27:59-60a, NIV
Everything looked lost.
Jesus was dead. He was buried along with all his followers’ hopes and dreams.
This is Holy Saturday.
Can you relate?
What I love about the story of Christ’s death and resurrection is how true it is to human experience. Holy Saturday is a place in the journey of the soul.
I certainly have had many Holy Saturdays…especially as my first marriage came to an end.
Yet like the Gospel story, my story did not end on Holy Saturday.
God breathed new life into my life. New hopes. New dreams. And a new future.
Also, like Christ’s followers in the Gospel story, it was not the story I expected.
I have learned over the years that rarely does God move in the ways I wanted (and expected) Him to move in. Yet that is really simply a reminder that He alone is God, not me.
I do not know where you are at in your own Holy Saturday experience. Has that bleak day just begun for you? Are you entering that twilight of the sadness? Do you feel stuck in repeat?
What I can tell you is God is still God, and He still is in taking us through Holy Saturday to Resurrection Sunday.
It may not be the Sunday you expect. Yet it will be good for He is a good God and loves you more than words can express. Bet on it, and you will not be disappointed–even if your expectations initially were.
