Forgotten Saturday

Between the sorrow and grief of Friday and the joy and exaltation of Sunday is the forgotten day of Saturday. The details of that day are very thin. Matthew has a few verses about the Jewish leaders, while Luke states that Jesus' followers rested according to the commandment. That's it.

There are no notes about grief. No thoughts on their doubts.  No reflections on their disappointed hopes and dreams. Why the silence? Why, after the incredible details of Sunday through Friday did God forget Saturday?

Making an argument from silence is risky, so the thoughts I offer are simply one man's reflection on that silent Saturday 2,000 years ago. Why the silence? Clearly there is the grief, both at the human level and at the spiritual level. There is also a period of reflection: who was this Jesus, really? How can the Messiah suffer and die? What do we do now?

Yet, with the validity of all of these things, I think there may be a deeper purpose to the Saturday of silence. We need to remember that these events played out in history. Since only God is is omniscient, no one knew what was really happening. Nobody knew that Sunday was coming. And, since these events played out before both the natural and supernatural worlds, all of creation was a witness to the life and to the death of the beloved Son of God. The silence of Saturday is the stunned, awe-filled, gasp of an entire universe in shock over what has just happened. Think of your personal reaction at seeing the collapse of the World Trade Center. Now multiply that disbelief by billions of witnesses then by billions more because of the much greater magnitude of Jesus' suffering and death. All of that emotion, all of that surprise, all of that heartache is crammed into one simple Saturday. No single day should have to bear that type of load.

Clearly, this is a day we want to forget. Clearly this is a day was must never forget.

To God Alone be a Glory