The In-the-Middle Day – Holy Saturday

You may know what the heartache and unbelief feels like when one of your closest friends or family members passed away yesterday. This day AFTER — it’s up to you to handle the responsibilities of planning the funeral, the burial, notifying relatives, and many other details of handling life without them.
You are expected to hold yourself together by treasuring the memories, while being courageous and brave when you just want to sit and cry bitter tears because your life will never be the same again.

This is the in-the-middle day. The disciples were too immersed in their pain and sorrow to remember their Lord’s words. They only remember His chastisement; His crucifixion; His pain; His death. They were caught up in their own misery and fear. They reasoned that they may be the next ones’ crucified.

Yesterday was Good Friday when on the cross, Christ bore every sin we’ve ever committed. He carried every sickness we have ever had, and will ever have. He gave His life so that we could live forever with Him. That was His promise, but this day after — the day-in-the-middle — the day between Christ’s crucifixion and His resurrection — His disciples and His followers could only think….”It’s all over! Life will never be the same again.”

The disciples walked with Him and talked with Him. They saw His good acts and the many miracles he performed (raising people from the dead, opening blind eyes and deaf ears, forgiving the worst of sinners — encouraging them to sin no more and to love their neighbors AND enemies). Jesus was dead — as dead as He could be. They had forgotten His “3-days promise”. They succumbed to doubt, fear, and unbelief. But, hold on. This is just the in-the-middle day!

I celebrated Good Friday at St Vincent de Paul’s Church. I couldn’t help but shed tears and ask my friend for a tissue, as I heard the story of the crucifixion of our Lord again. Oh, the sheer beauty of hearing the massive choir and their voices singing out “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” We venerated the symbolic, large, wood cross by individually bowing, kissing, touching or holding this instrument of torment and death. And, then in Holy Communion to embrace our Lord’s words and service from Holy Thursday.

How could we love the cross so much when our Savior died a criminal’s death on it? Why do I wear a cross almost all the time? This is how and why. I’m ever thankful that God the Father — expressing the greatest love ever imagined through His Son — chose the cross. Christ’s great sacrifice of His life bought us our “abundant life” on this earth and our eternal life with Him. The cross, the time in the tomb, and tomorrow’s triumphant resurrection changed everything.

This Saturday is reminiscent of Christ’s “in-the-middle” day. And your “in-the-middle” day may be where you are at in your life. Maybe it feels like God has disappointed your expectations. You feel all hope is gone because a loved one may have died, an illness may be bearing down hard on you, your marriage may seem hopeless, your financial situation may seem devastated.

Hold on, God’s beloved children! For those who know our Savior and who know the end of the story, our hopes, dreams, desires and prayers won’t be dead forever. Jesus was raised to life on the 3rd day and He came to give us LIFE and life more abundantly (John 10:10).

The story didn’t end at the cross. So hold on, those who are in the middle, it’s time to get your hopes up because JOY COMES IN THE MORNING!