FollowingJesus.me

Easter Weekend 2025

Yesterday was what is commonly called Good Friday. It is the day we stop and remember Jesus’ death on the cross. We reflect on what His sacrificial, substitutionary death means to us, what it accomplished for us, and how we should respond. That was yesterday. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday (also known as Resurrection Day) where we CELEBRATE our risen Lord. He is no longer bound by death and the grave, and neither are we. Jesus lives and we also shall live. And celebrate we should! But that is tomorrow. What about today?

We have “Good” Friday and “Resurrection” Sunday but what about Saturday. This year I heard a descriptor for Saturday that has worked its way into my soul – “Silent” Saturday. Today is the day in between. For the original disciples, yesterday was full of activity including the crucifixion. Tomorrow will be quite unexpectedly glorious. But today, nothing. Today is Sabbath and there is nothing that can be done. Jesus is laying there in the tomb, dead. What happened?

If I put myself in the disciples’ shoes, I can feel it, the bewilderment, the questions, the horror, the doubts, the fear, the abandonment. We’ve been with Him and seen what He can do. We heard His teaching, teaching like no other, teaching that grips our hearts even when we don’t completely understand. A few days ago, He was/we were welcomed into the city with a royal processional. Two days ago we had one of our most intimate moments with Jesus as He washed our feet. Things were looking good; we were going somewhere; all our hopes and dreams were coming to fulfillment. Then, yesterday happened. Everything fell apart and I mean everything. Our teacher, the one we left everything to follow, the “Messiah,” they killed him. How could that happen? He isn’t supposed to die, He’s supposed to save the world. Then the questions rush in. Did we leave everything for nothing? Were we following a fraud? How foolish we were; how will we ever live this down? They killed him; are we next? Will they be coming for us, too? Why would He do this to us?

Please know, I am not casting dispersion on the disciples. I am simply expressing what I may have felt in their place. I am sure you have felt it too, the disillusionment, abandonment, hurt, bewilderment, etc. when Jesus did not come through. You know He can do anything. You knew He was going to open the sea so you could walk across on dry ground. But the sea didn’t open and the Egyptian army devastated you. You had faith that the giant was going to fall but he did not and you lost the battle instead. You had faith that He was going to heal your daughter, provide the mortgage payment, save your marriage, but now it’s all gone. What is going on? Where is God in all of this? He promised to stand up for me. He promised to never leave me. He promised to be my provider. What happened? Now it has all fallen apart and I sit here overwhelmed on Silent Saturday. Two days ago we were close, God and I. Yesterday all hell broke loose and today, nothing, silence. Why did He let it happen? Was I wrong? Is He an imposter? Did He lie to me? Still just silence. We have all had our Silent Saturdays (or Saturweeks/Saturmonths). We have all had (and may have again) the moments when we are devastated as things don’t turn out as expected. What do we do with those moments? Where do we go?

In my church family experiences, Good Friday is often about prayer, reflection, remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice, and taking communion – “remembering the Lord’s death until he comes.” Easter is about singing and celebration, praise and worship and party. For Saturday, nothing except preparation for Sunday. I think silence is fitting for the Saturday of Holy Week, silence and solitude. I think it behooves us to remember, to remember our own Silent Saturdays, to remember the times we felt forgotten, let down, or even abandoned by God. I don’t think we remember them to relive them. I think it is important that we remember that they happened and that they did not last forever. Not all, but most of those times there came a Resurrection Sunday. There came a moment after the silence when God came through and we were able to see what He was doing all along. We were reminded that He “NEVER leaves us” (emphasis mine) and is “for us.”

If we can remember those Silent times and the days that followed, it will help the next time we have a similar experience. We can remember that we have walked this way before. We can remember that God has done surprising (and sometimes temporarily disappointing) things before. We can remember that He carried us through, though silently, before.

Today, on this Silent Saturday, take a moment to remember. Remember those times and feelings of disappointment with God. Remember those and also remember the outcome. Resurrection Day is coming! The silence does not last forever and you are not sitting there alone. There is a God who took on flesh and blood (and sin and punishment) because He loves you. As Paul reminds us, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

Today is Silent Saturday but tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday!