The Update

Yesterday was Good Friday and tomorrow is Easter Sunday. In between is today, Holy Saturday. Saturday doesn't get the same attention as the other days this weekend. It's the day between the horrific crucifixion and the part where Jesus beats back death with a boo-ya stick. Tomorrow is a day of celebration and excitement. But it's not here yet.

I was thinking about what the first Holy Saturday must have been like. The 24 hours after Jesus had been killed. The disciples would have been meeting up with one another in secret. They had all scattered after Jesus' death for fear of being executed as well. So in dark alleys and private rooms they would be coming together to mourn.

The Pharisees who had Jesus executed were more than likely congratulating one another on a job well done and feeling confident that they had finally gotten rid of this pesky Jesus of Nazareth. Although the curtain in the temple, the giant one that separated the Holy Place had been torn in half from top to bottom, and I'm guessing they were weirded out by that.

The guards who had carried out Jesus' death sentence... they were probably wrestling with what they had witnessed. The darkening of the sun, the storm, the earthquake... and the deep sense that there was something amazing about the man they had seen die.

It's funny, because even though nobody was expecting him to be back tomorrow, and most thought he was dead for good... more people were probably thinking about Jesus the day after he died than the day before. News would be spreading about his death, and the people of Jerusalem would no doubt have noticed the sun missing.

The Bible doesn't tell us much about this day, but it has to have been one of the most intense days in all of history. I wonder if there was a sense that something was coming... like the gentle breeze that announces the coming storm. Even if they couldn't say what, could the disciples sense that something great was about to happen? Or were they so overcome with grief that they didn't feel anything else at all?

These are all wonderings that will probably never be answered... but when I think about what we remember on Good Friday, I can't imagine what it would have been to try and make it through today 2,000 years ago.