On Saturday of Passion Week 2000+ years ago, it was quiet. There is no scriptural record of what the disciples did. Jesus had been crucified Friday evening, but now it was Saturday and the Jewish Sabbath until sundown. A day for worship, but the disciples appeared worship-less.
Jesus was dead. Buried. Gone.
The disciples’ hopes are shattered. Hearts confused. Emptiness. Darkness. They must have left the crucifixion in shock and bewilderment.
The builders had rejected the foundation stone (Psalm 118.22).
What did they do during that long Sabbath?
In Luke 23.50-56, we’re told that Joseph of Arimethea buried Jesus in a new tomb on Friday sundown. In verse 56, we’re given our only hint:
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
We know God wasn’t resting, however. While the disciples “rested” – most likely in glum bewilderment, God was active.
The guilty were being freed. Sin was being defeated. Evil flummoxed. Satan enraged as he witnessed his careful murder plan being undone.
The disciples, though, would not understand until Sunday. They lived in a silent Saturday, unaware of the glory being prepared for them.
If you’re facing a dark day, if you’ve seen a dream die, if you have no answers.. you may feel like the disciples did on that Saturday.
The message of that Saturday, for all eternity, is that when all is hope seems gone, God is a God of Resurrection. For all our silent Saturdays of confusing spiritual bewilderment, there remains a stone-rolling Sunday that shouts hope, forgiveness and life in Jesus.
