Category: Holy Week

Why I don’t say “but Sundays coming” on Good Friday

It’s a seemingly innocent phrase I know. But I’m concerned that it has actually created some serious struggles within many people’s relationship with God.

And I do think these kinds of phrases that “wish away” or “skip ahead” of the reality of Silent Saturday are a small example of the context that has created much of the deconstruction happening right now.

Because it’s one thing to say “but Sundays coming.” And it’s another thing to actually live with the reality of Silent Saturday.

For many, it creates a spiritual dissonance. It ignores a crucial reality of the Christian life.

And most times it reveals that we as Christians can misunderstand God, and thus miss His invitation into what He has for us in embracing Silent Saturday.

We can misunderstand when God seems to be silent.

We can misunderstand when God seems to be inactive.

We can misunderstand when God seems to be distant.

These misunderstandings are fairly consistent among God’s people historically and still today.

Many Christians (myself included for too much of my life) were not taught sufficiently how to understand when it seems like God is silent, inactive, or distant.

Though theologically most of us know that because of God’s self-revelation through Creation, Scripture, and Jesus – He could never actually be considered silent, inactive, nor distant.

It still feels this way many times for many people. And it’s a struggle to understand what’s going on when we experience these things…

And we aren’t the only ones who have wrestled with these realities.

Of course, Job is the most extensive story on God being seemingly silent, inactive, and distant.

However, we also see these realities in the final days of Jesus.

In his time in prayer in the garden where God appears to be silent.

In his time during the trial and beatings where God appears to be inactive.

And in his time on the cross where God appears to be distant.

Remember:

“He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief…He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away…He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave…”

Isaiah 53:1-12 (NLT)

So how do we understand these experiences?

I would propose that Silent Saturday holds the key to understanding them.

And most of us have not embraced Silent Saturday enough to have gleaned the lesson it has for us.

Either our emphasis is on Good Friday – usually focused on man’s activity of sin & repentance,

Or on Resurrection Sunday – usually focused on God’s activity of grace & salvation,

Has many times caused us to minimize or ignore completely Silent Saturday and what this day of “inactivity” means for us.

Silent Saturday is an invitation into the in-between, into the already-not yet, into the every day life experience of the Christian.

You see, the majority of experiences in life are those between the lows and highs.

They’re the times waiting on something or someone.

They’re the times where answers aren’t clear.

They’re the times that you know what’s next but aren’t there yet.

They’re the times when God is likely inviting you into knowing Him beyond your own activity or your need for His activity.

When He is saying:

Just allow me to be with you

and allow yourself to be with me,

without needing anything from me

or imposing an expectation on yourself that you think I have of you.

When He is saying:

Just be quiet.

Still your soul.

And trust me.

When He is saying:

It’s okay if you need to focus on the every day things of life,

just know that I’m in those too just as much as I’m in the highs and lows.

See, it’s the invitation of Silent Saturday that informs a full understanding of a relationship with God.

Something beyond simply being saved by Him or servants of Him.

But instead being His friends [John 15:15].

Without it we find ourselves stuck in the cycle of our continual need for God to constantly be at work “saving us from our sins.”

Death and Resurrection, while crucial components, are not the full Gospel story.

Burial is a crucial part of the story.

Silence is in the middle of death and life.

The space between Friday and Sunday is the space relationships are made of.

And it’s a space God is inviting you to spend time in this Holy Week.

Don’t miss His invitation amid the commotion of the cross and the crowds.

He’ll be there.

Expecting you’ll know Him.

In the silence of Saturday.

Lent 2022 | Day 40: Death

The Saturday before Easter is an interesting day in the liturgical calendar of the Christian churches.

The Saturday before Easter is an interesting day in the liturgical calendar of the Christian churches. It has been referred to by a variety of names depending on the liturgical tradition of the church one is considering. In some, it is known as Great and Holy Saturday, Great Sabbath, Saturday of the Gloria, and Black Saturday. [Source]

A couple of the customs practiced in some form throughout the various liturgical traditions is the use of black linens to cover whatever might adorn the table or altar at the front of the church. There is also the practice of stripping the sanctuary of any and all items that might usually be present during a regular service.

In those churches where these practices are not performed, the significance may be lost. But on that first Saturday after Jesus’s crucifixion, it had to have been a day of deep morning for the disciples. It was essentially a funeral day. One that could not be properly finished because it occurred on the Jewish Sabbath.

So the act of removing all signs and symbols of the faith from the sanctuary of the church or covering it with black linen is to represent both the despair and the questioning that must’ve happened to the disciples. We have the benefit of knowing what happened on Sunday morning. But for them, there was no guarantee of resurrection.

For the entire history of the human journey upon the earth, death has marked the transition from life into the unknown. Our inability to know what exists on the other side of death’s door can cause many to fear. And rightfully so. There is no greater uncertainty than what happens next after this life is over.

This is why Jesus’s promise is so revolutionary. It gives us hope that if he was able to travel through that door and return then we too will be able to do the same if we go with him.

As we commemorate the waiting the disciples did on that first Saturday before Easter, I would invite you to consider the void they must’ve felt at the thought and reality of the death of Jesus. Like all who have lost people they love, the disciples must’ve felt quite lost and filled with despair as they mourned. But while they waited with not much certainty of what would happen just a few hours later, we can rejoice in the fact that Sunday morning is just around the corner.

But today, on this Holy Saturday, we wait.

We wait and we remember how death threatened to destroy the hope of the disciples. And we consider how death could destroy our hope if it had not been defeated by the resurrection of Jesus.

Lent 2022 | Day 39: Friend

In Jesus’s final gathering with his disciples, he offered them a word of encouragement I believe we too can participate in. Jesus told the disciples that he no longer considered them servants.

We are now days away from celebrating the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. This single event defines the fullness of our faith. Without the resurrection, we are left with no hope for what lies beyond the grave. But in the resurrection, we find a reason to endure the trials of this life and look forward to the promise to be fulfilled.

In Jesus’s final gathering with his disciples, he offered them a word of encouragement I believe we too can participate in. Jesus told the disciples that he no longer considered them servants. After all of their time together he had shared with them and talked with them about all that the Father had given to him. Now, as a result, they were ready to transition from those who were receiving to those who could give to others.

How do we know this is true? Jesus tells them he no longer called them servants but that he now considered them to be friends.

There is a big difference between a servant and a friend. The biggest of the differences is a servant does not have the same kind of access that a friend does. Servants cannot call upon their master and seek the same kind of comfort that a friend offers to a friend.

The reality this is describing is that at the end of our journey with Jesus we should be able to consider him our friend. In this case, what I mean by the journey is the journey of discipleship. That time where there is intentional and specific training, instruction, and encouragement to live out what is being learned. But there comes a moment we stop being students and we must begin to live for ourselves. Not ignoring what we have learned but according to what we have learned.

It has become my practice whenever I enter into a discipleship relationship to tell them from the beginning, “At the end of this discipleship process, however long the Lord gives us, if we are not better friends I will have failed to have discipled you properly.”

This mindset comes from what Jesus told his disciples. At the beginning, there was a great deal of transfer of information and correction from Jesus to the disciples. But as they matured they became more than just receptors of information and truth. Whether or not the disciples truly understood this does not change the fact that Jesus said this was his desire and his intention.

Whether or not we have ever felt like this about those who have discipled us in the past does not matter for how we should move forward. When we realize what Jesus was trying to do in and through us we become accountable for that.

And so as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the fulfillment of God’s great promise of salvation we should give thanks to Jesus Christ who is that friend that sticks closer to us than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). Jesus is the greatest friend we will ever have. Let us learn from him and be good friends with those whom we journey within this life. Even if it is only for a short time.

Lent 2022 | Day 38: Betrayal

During the night of the Last Supper, at the conclusion of the meal, Jesus tells the disciples that one among them would betray him.

As we approach the end of the season of Lent this year, we enter into the events that occurred prior to Jesus’s execution on the cross of Calvary. There are many things that occurred during that final week. Some of them encouraging and serving as reminders of God’s grace toward us as followers of Jesus. But some other events can remind us of how dark life can get when we lose our way.

The one event that comes to mind in this final week of Jesus’s life was the decision made by Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus into the hands of the high priest and his followers. During the night of the Last Supper, at the conclusion of the meal, Jesus tells the disciples that one among them would betray him. All of them looked around unsure as to who it could be. And while we are given no indication that anyone suspected Judas of being the betrayer, the biblical record indicates that Judas knew Jesus was talking about him.

It is so hard to describe or adequately articulate the feelings associated with an act of betrayal. The feelings and thoughts that emerge when that breach of trust is finally exposed can leave very deep emotional and spiritual wounds.

We can only imagine how Jesus felt knowing who would be the catalyst for the events that would lead to his death. And then for the other disciples to learn who among them had cast aside all they had seen in and through Jesus for 30 pieces of silver must’ve been a great shock.

While we would like to think we are not capable of such an act, the truth is not only are we capable in the right circumstances but we let ourselves off the hook for the small betrayals we commit against our own consciences and integrity. I do not mean to malign anyone or to falsely accuse anyone without cause. My intention is to reveal how easy it can be to judge the motives of another while giving a lenient interpretation of our own motives.

This entire topic is so difficult because it requires an omniscient mind in order to understand the multitude of contours that go into the decision. It can be overly simplistic to think that people commit a betrayal in a moment. The truth is the final act of betrayal is the culmination of a journey away from what one believed to be true at some point in the past.

I find it hard to believe that when Judas was called by Jesus he intended to betray him three years later. But at some point in his time walking and talking with Jesus he became discouraged with how Jesus was doing his ministry in the world. And that seed of doubt continued to grow until it bore the fruit of betrayal against Jesus.

We must all be careful what we allowed to grow in the soil of our heart. Because we do not know when that seed of doubt will bring forth its fruit in our lives. Again, my intention is not to scare anyone but to encourage an intentional awareness of those things that could take root in our minds and hearts.

While the season of Lent is coming to an end and we turn our attention to rejoicing in God’s faithful salvation through Jesus, it is a stark reminder of how fragile we all can be. Judas’s act of betrayal must serve as an example of what can happen when we allow ourselves to stand in judgment over how God chooses to act in the world.

Holy Week 2019 | Maundy Thursday: Celebration

The Thursday of Holy week represents the day Jesus and his disciples celebrated the first communion of the Church. During the meal, Jesus took the Passover and infused it with a new meaning pointing to the new covenant he was establishing.

The bread pointed to the body of Christ. Beaten and bruised, but not broken. The bread was shared among all those present reminded them that they are one with Christ in life and in death.

The wine would be a reminder that the forgiveness of sins required the shedding of blood. But, Glory to God, the last drop of blood shed for sin was that of the Son of God. No believer will have to die for sins. We may die for the spreading of the Gospel, but this would be an act of obedience and not a sacrifice for salvation.

The beauty of celebrating the Lord’s Supper is that we have a continual reminder that the Gospel is true and that Jesus is who promised us he is.

Holy Week 2019 | Wednesday: Confrontation

A group from our church gathered to watch the movie Risen. It tells a fictional story, that honors a very likely scenario. However, there is are some compelling moments in the movie. One that stands out the conversation between the protagonist, the tribune Clavius, and one of the tomb guards. I made a note regarding this scene: How would I have made sense of this confrontation between my experience and my worldview?

 

Holy Week 2019 | Tuesday: Anticipation

The time is drawing closer. The crucifixion is steadily approaching. The disciples may have had some inkling that this week in Jerusalem would be different. But, the Gospels tell us they were not at all prepared. They were not truly ready to confront the weight of what it meant to be the leaders of the Church. Only time would prove it. And now, history has shown that they were up to the task.

It is only Tuesday. The seriousness of what will take place has not yet taken hold. The normal ebb and flow of life continues.

Holy Week 2019 | Monday: Preparation

We don’t know much of what Jesus and the disciples were doing in that final week. What I would guess, is that this was a time of preparation. Jesus understood that his time and ministry on earth were drawing to a close. I am not sure the disciples did at all.

What makes the first few days of Holy Week so difficult is that we don’t know much at all. And so we wait. Preparing for what is to come. Looking back across the centuries we know what happened. But, that does not eliminate the suspense. It does not diminish the anticipation.

Resurrection Sunday is a few days away. But for now, we wait. We prepare for what is to come.

Holy Week 2018 | Saturday of Holy Week: Confusion

Confusion is the natural result of suffering a severe emotional injury.

We have no knowledge of what happened between Jesus’s crucifixion and his resurrection. I have always wondered what the Disciples were thinking as they hid from the authorities. We may never know that. But, there is something that I feel very confident in. The Disciples felt confusion.

Confusion is the natural result of suffering a severe emotional injury. Every single member of the Disciples had given up a lot to follow Jesus. They had left behind family and friends, professions and opportunities. The life they may have wanted was left behind to follow Jesus.

Then, after the crucifixion they found themselves hidden away trying to figure out if the three years spent following Jesus was a waste. I am sure we could all imagine what we would be thinking if we found ourselves in this situation.

Today, two-thousand years removed from the events we know that in just a days time the course of human history would change. But, not on that Saturday. On that Saturday all there was was fear and confusion.

It is a wonderful gift from God that confusion can give way to faith if we can hold onto hope, no matter how small. In spite of the confusion, until Sunday passed there was still a hope that what Jesus said would come true.

Resurrection Sunday is a day of great rejoicing for all who believe in Jesus. It is a reminder that regardless of what may happen in life, everything Jesus said to his original twelve disciples is true for us as well. We can hope in a better tomorrow because Jesus rose from the grace to victory and power.

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