In the series of events that occur around Easter, Easter Saturday is the odd one out. Following the acts of remembrance of both the last supper and the crucifixion and burial, we have a day where… nothing happens. From an entire week of careful consideration, we enter a non-day, a day where we return to carrying out our normal lives.
The disciples went from the drama of the days that had followed that triumphant entry into Jerusalem to what must have seemed a pretty ordinary Sabbath day. This day would have been filled with mourning among them, yet it must have seemed otherwise like a pretty ordinary day. I can imagine a million and one things running through their heads, some in a state of confusion, some running through all the potential horrors that could face them, some wondering if their choice to follow Jesus was the right thing to have done.
It was a day that was seemingly of so little importance that the only reference to it in biblical texts are “After the Sabbath” (Matthew 28) or “When the Sabbath was over” (Mark 16), quickly brushed over and easily forgotten. It’s a day like so many we have in our lives where it feels like God has taken a leave of absence, yet we have the advantage over the disciples of knowing what comes next. To know that whilst Jesus lay in that cold tomb, God was at work, preparing to do something that would amaze and inspire people for millennia and establish clearly Jesus’ power over death now and forever.
We often have days where we wonder what God is up to, we have days where we find our faith challenged, or our minds consumed with worldly problems. Yet in these times we must remember: Even in the quietest times, God is at work! We must try to have the patience to see the result, and be ready to respond to his Word.
A Prayer from an unknown author:
Draw us forth, God of all creation. Draw us forward and away from limited certainty into the immense world of your love. Give us the capacity to even for a moment taste the richness of the feast you give us. Give us the peace to live with uncertainty, with questions, with doubts. Help us to experience the resurrection anew with open wonder and an increasing ability to see you in the people of Easter. Amen.