Silent Saturday 2017

Saturdays are days that I have looked forward to for most of my life. Getting to sleep in late… no school… laid back schedule… Looney Tunes in the morning (where did they go?)… ball games … on and on…

I still love Saturdays to this day. I may not sleep in like I once did, but Saturdays are days where you can do what you want to done easier. I especially like Saturdays from September to January with all the football going on.

This week, I have been reflecting on events that took place during the first Passion or Holy Week leading up to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We come to one of the hardest, if not the hardest day of the week. I call it “Silent Saturday.”  This includes much of the time between the cross and the empty tomb. 

The only thing really mentioned about this time period in the Bible is found in Matthew’s gospel. 

“The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” “You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.” They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guard.”  (Matthew 27:62-66 CSB)

Those who had pleaded for Jesus’ death wanted to make sure that He stayed there. They had shut this rogue Rabbi up, and they wanted to make sure things went back to the way they were when they were calling the shots. 

What strikes me more than the paranoid (yet rightful) worry of the religious leaders of that day was the silence that is found in the Bible. The is not much at all mentioned about that day. 

I can understand that though, too. If the One that you had put all your hope and dreams in was suddenly gone, would you really feel like doing much? I can imagine the remain disciples hiding out wondering if there would be a knock at their door from those who had Jesus killed wanting to do the same to them. 

Some of the most difficult times in our journey of faith with God are those of silence.  It seems that God doesn’t say or do anything. One can easily think that God has either been bested/stumped, doesn’t care, or left the scene and we are all alone in the situation. 

The truth is that Saturday was silent because God wanted it so. I’ve come across some material that leans on the thought that Jesus was taking a Sabbath from His work on this Saturday. I could see that in one sense. I think it is more about what was said in the prophet Isaiah: 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”  (Isaiah‬ ‭55:8-11‬ ‭CSB‬)

What looks like apathy or abandonment to us was very different to God. Jesus had already said that He would be raised on the third day (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭17:22‬). This was all part of the plan. A day of letting all of what had already taken place sink in was in play, but the silence wouldn’t last forever. 

You may be in a period of silence. I would encourage you to take this time of silence to remember what God has done for you, already taught you, already done in you. Then, lean on His understanding and trust His timing. God is always right on time… not too early, never too late. 

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Good Friday 2017

Welcome to Good Friday. That title has always been a little confusing to me. Growing up there was the joke that went around saying it was good because we got out of school and it was typically good weather so we could enjoy the day off.

I would find out later that it was called Good Friday because on this day around 33AD, Jesus Christ was crucified for the sins of the world (Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19).

How could something that was so brutal, so shameful, so wrong be considered good in any sense? What sadistic person said, “Let’s remember this day as something good and put it on the calendar to remind us!”?

I’m not sure who that person was, but I am so grateful that they did.  It is days like this that I am reminded of just how often that God wants us to see that there is so much more than what appears on the surface.

The saddest day in history is also one of the greatest.  On this day… on that hill called Golgotha/Calvary… the Son of God took the sins of the world and dealt with them!  It turns my stomach to think about all that Jesus went through – the mockery, the shame, the beatings, the torture – it was all because of my sin.  All that junk that Jesus went through was meant for me.  But because of the love that God has for us, He took it so I didn’t have to.

May this day be so much more than another “day off” for us.  My prayer is that it would be a day of reflection… a day that we remember the high price that Jesus was willing to pay just to redeem us.  If anyone needs any proof that they are cared about, they need only to turn their eyes to that hill called Calvary and see God hanging there with arms wide open saying, “I love you this much!”

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Holy Tuesday 2017

 

As the Passion Week rolls on, we find ourselves at what has been called Tuesday.  Because of the difference in Jewish, Roman, and even our calendars today, being sure that the days of Passion Week line up today as they did back then is difficult.  The Gospels of the New Testament are also not written in a chronological manner, so this makes placing certain events on certain days even more trickier.

Even with all of the difficulties at hand, it is believed that the first “Holy Tuesday” was a busy one for Jesus Christ.  Tuesdays have always been interesting to me.  You are over everything from the weekend, but not close enough to the next weekend to really count.  It is believed that this Tuesday so many years ago held many confrontations with the religious leaders of the day (the Pharisees and Sadducees) over various topics for Jesus.

While those are important, there is yet another event that is attributed to that Tuesday that stands out like a flashing neon sign.  It is found in both Mark and Luke’s Gospels.  I would point to Mark’s account here.

Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little.  Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had ​— ​all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44 CSB)

Jesus is sitting by watching people come and go as they bring their monetary offerings to God.  This is a practice that is still done some twenty centuries later.  The time of giving is a time of worship and devotion as one brings a portion of what the Lord has given to them for the use of Kingdom work.

Jesus notices those who were considered “well off”.  These are the ones that did not have to worry so much about how to pay the bills or where the next meal was coming from and so forth.  Jesus never condemns their giving, but He did make an interesting observation.  He noticed that as the large sums of coins were placed into coffers there was a notice that was sought.  It could have very well been that these people had deliberately brought many coins to be noticed as they “gave unto the Lord.”  I can almost see Jesus sitting there just shaking His head.

But then a “poor widow” came to give, and everything changed.  Jesus did not let this moment escape with teaching His disciples the principle here.  I can see Him rise to His feet and even point towards the widow (I know, pointing isn’t polite, but it’s Jesus…so).  He makes the statement to His disciples that this poor widow has given “all that she had to live on.”

God does not need our money.  The truth is it all belongs to Him anyway (Deuteronomy 10:14; Psalm 24:1).  God gives us an opportunity to express our faith and trust in Him by giving to Him.  We see this poor widow teaching all who would take notice a great lesson: It is not about the amount you give; it is the faith attached to it that matters.

Widows during this time period were seen as some of the most needy people in the world.  They were at the mercy of family members and friends to care for them.  This woman had a faith in God that moved her to action.  She understood that all that she had belonged to the Lord and came from Him.  She used this moment to express her dependence upon God… and God took notice.  God has this way of seeing what no one else can (or wants to).

As we proceed through this Passion Week, what is the motivation behind what you do for the Lord?  Is it to be seen (by Him and others) or is simply a way to say ‘thank you’ for what He has done for you?

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