Infusion Ministries - Ireland

THE GAP BETWEEN FRIDAY AND SUNDAY

Luke 23v48-49

“And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home, beating their chests.
And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.” (NASB)

The period from those last breaths on Friday afternoon until what we now call Easter Sunday morning is an interesting passage of time. Jesus has been taken down from the cross and buried in a borrowed grave. The Disciples have run for cover. Peter has no doubt internalised all that has happened - very bitterly. Judas, well. The Marys - broken, distraught but possibly more together than ever given their desire to tend to Jesus’ body.

The Jews are on their way home “beating their chests” but their leadership are holding on to some fears - notably the one that leads them to urge the Romans to seal the Tomb with a giant stone.

For the Romans, it’s probably just another day of rule and control in occupied Jerusalem.

When Christ died with the words, “it is finished”, the family, friends and followers of our Saviour were disorientated and plunged into a profound melee of emotions and emptiness. Some might say - trauma.

A great personal tragedy had befallen them. The Miracle Man with whom they had served, walked, argued, laughed and dined was gone. Betrayed and taken-out by their kinsmen.

They now faced the prospect of a return to mundane life as fishermen, lowly servants of an occupied state, simple men and women with no hope, and memories of empty promises and grand statements from this great teacher who was about to be placed in a heavily guarded tomb.

This man who literally promised them the Earth, eternal riches, who declared Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life had been removed from them. The fiery light He brought to their souls had been extinguished. They forgot everything He told them.

For them it was the darkest, loneliest, scariest 24 hours imaginable.

I wonder have you ever felt the Lord’s absence. Are your experiences at odds with what you have been taught about Jesus? Have they left you empty, disappointed - traumatised? Has the light that once burned brightly in all aspects of your life been extinguished?

For Jesus’ followers it was one day of racing emotions, pain and loss. But for many of us, life’s challenges and losses have ripped a huge chasm in our expectations that exists for weeks, months, years even. What pain and anguish fills the space between your Friday and your Sunday?

Our Enemy wants to keep you in a strange no-mans-land. He wants to generate as much disappointment, cynicism, lack of trust, that he can muster. He wants to squeeze every drop of hope, enthusiasm, joy and life out of your weary souls. He presents every powerful truth ever uttered by Jesus Christ as clanging metal, to the point that His very name is a source of anger, bitterness and life-long resentment. He will attempt to re-ignite a flame in your life with less wholesome activities. He will offer all sorts of alternatives to fill your void. Don’t let him!

Let’s back-up a bit. What was JESUS doing between Friday and Sunday?

Remember what happened when Jesus died. There was an earthquake and the Veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27v51). Something profoundly powerful had happened in both the natural and heavenly realms. There was now access to the Father! God was more reachable than ever before! Religious ritual and burdensome observance of laws had been superceded by a new Way. Christ had reconciled a broken world to God. Grace and Mercy were available in abundance - a never ending supply! The penalty for sin had been paid!

Jesus’ followers, broken and distraught, were closer to God than they realised. He is doing a work in you and for you. He has not abandoned you!

Jesus was securing our eternal future and that is how we must think!

It doesn’t dawn on His followers (pun intended) until Sunday morning what has happened. But we don’t have to wait for Christ’s promises of eternal life until our resurrection. We can enjoy that now!