Holy Saturday on The Stream
We think of it as a day of waiting. Between Death and Resurrection. But the disciples didn’t know what was coming next. It was just another dark day, after the darkest day of their lives. How can one find hope after such devastation?
Here are a few reflections on this long, in-between day from The Stream archives.
God’s Ongoing Story is Full of the Unexpected
By
Liberty McArtor
People love a good plot twist. In books and movies, we want to be pulled to the edge of our seat. We want to gasp at the unexpected event that presents an impossible crisis. And we want to sigh in awe as another unexpected event ushers in a brilliant resolution.
Except for when it comes to our lives.
In our own lives, we like things to go as planned. Expectations to be fulfilled. Prayers to be answered — immediately and exactly as we ask, thank you.
But God doesn’t work that way, does he?
Do Not Rush Too Quickly to Easter: The Lessons of Holy Saturday
By
Tom Gilson
“We had all hope our hopes riding on him. He lost. Now we’re in a worse mess than ever. What on earth are we going to do now?”
That line could have come from conservatives here in America last January, once the election challenges were over and done with. Or it could have been Jesus’ disciples saying it, after they took Him down from the Cross.
You do see the similarity, right? No, not between Jesus Christ and Donald Trump, but between Jesus’ followers then, and a lot of Americans today. Both groups put their hope in a man who stirred things up for a few years. Both groups saw their hero go down to defeat. “Hope? Now?! No, that’s over. We’re in for it, that’s all.”
Holy Saturday: Living in Limbo
By
John Zmirak
It’s hard to know how to spend this holy day. It’s easy to let it slip by. You might be exhausted emotionally, if you really marked Good Friday. You might sleep in, then putter around, until it’s time for the Easter Vigil. Then poof! The day is gone. That happens to me most years.
But that would be cheating yourself of a key mystery of this weekend. Consider what we commemorate today: The hours that Jesus’ body lay cold inside the tomb. When His mother and the holy women mourned in silence and secret. And the apostles cowered in fear, and blank confusion.
Who was triumphant? Both theological parties in Jerusalem. The liberals — the Sadducees, who truncated the scriptures, denied life after death and collaborated with Rome. And the conservatives — the Pharisees, whose leaders Jesus had solemnly called hypocrites. He knew that by reading their souls.
And where was Jesus?
For more Holy Week articles, click here.
