It’s perhaps time for my traditional protest about those who try to make a thing out of “Easter Saturday.” There really isn’t such a thing! The Gospel accounts all move directly from the events of Good Friday to Sunday morning. Saturday was a Sabbath Day of course, so there was nothing that the Jewish followers of Jesus could be doing. For most people, it is a normal day. However, for those who want to make a bigger thing of observing specific moments, there is a need to work out what to do with it. So, what we’ve started to get are reflections on the beauty of the uncertainty of Easter Saturday. People write and speak telling us that we should enjoy the tension and learn to live without certainty, without being able to know things.
It’s worth noting two things. First that for all this pious talk, uncertainty was not at all a good thing for those first disciples. They had fled the scene of the crucifixion in fear and were scattered. Furthermore, their uncertainty was not a cause for celebration but for rebuke. They should have known what was going to happen next. Secondly, we are not at all in the place of uncertainty. We know for certain that Easter Sunday follows (after Saturday) on from Good Friday. We know that the tomb is empty and that Jesus is alive.
If you are looking for something to reflect on today though, can I suggest this. The disciples if they had listened to Jesus should have been experiencing a “now and not yet” experience. Now, on Easter Saturday, Jesus had died for their sin but not yet had he risen. They should have known that the resurrection was coming.
We live in a “now and not yet” situation. We know that Jesus has not only died for our sin but also risen, ascended and sent the Holy Spirit. We know with certain hope that he is coming again although it has not happened yet. We can take a partial leaf from the women’s book, at least they were preparing for the Sunday morning, even if they had got the nature of that day wrong. We too should be preparing for the Easter Sunday of all Easter Sundays that is coming.
Faithroots 