The Saturday before Easter it was quiet. Jesus' body had been taken down off the cross the day before. He was in the darkened tomb and it was sealed.
There must have been a lot of confusion and grief that day with those who loved Jesus. The aftershock of what had happened the day before weighed on their hearts....so many questions in the minds of the disciples. Saturday must have been quiet on the outside, but emotional turmoil on the inside of Jesus' beloved followers.
I find it interesting that the Easter story involves a day of rest, a sabbath of sorts before the resurrection. There is a silence and quiet where there is nothing written down to let us know what happened exactly that day. We can only imagine. What we do know is Jesus' body is lying in the tomb and there are those who feel like their world has been shattered.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to the columbarium at Myers Park UMC, with a daffodil in hand to put in my parents' niche. The columbarium is actually a garden outside Francis Chapel and the niches are on the side of the chapel all the way around. There are camellia bushes flanking one side and an angel fountain on the other. A large Tulip Magnolia tree is at the entrance and a Crepe Myrtle next to a bench. The Tulip tree was blooming that evening that I stopped by the garden.
I decided to take photos of it because it is such a reminder to me of new life, Easter and the resurrection. That tree will always bloom around the time of my father's death and my mother's birthday.
It's like a message from God as I enter the gate....
" 'I am the resurrection and the life....' Don't worry Judith, your folks and all of my beloved laid to rest here are alive with me. You just have to wait awhile to see them again."
In the past, I didn't spend too much time thinking about Holy Saturday. It was the day before Easter when nothing was really going on. It was the day to get ready for Easter or do my own thing. In my mind, it seemed ok not to ponder Holy Saturday too deeply, so I didn't.
Then my parents died 9 months apart and everything changed.
My Holy Saturday became my Dad's funeral.....March 30, also what would have been my mother's 83 birthday. Dad and Mom never missed celebrating her birthday together.
They were together now in that earthly niche and alive with Christ in eternity.
That Holy Saturday was a blur. It was only 2 Easters ago. It seems like yesterday.
Walking two people home whom I love, has taught me about grief. I know what it feels like the day after you lose someone. One day they are here, the next they are gone and it feels like your world has been turned upside down.
You remember the suffering they went through and how you felt as if you were staring death in the face. In fact you were, but what you couldn't see was what Jesus was renewing on the inside. That was what kept me going when I walked through the valley with them their final weeks of life. Even through the deepest part of my sadness, there was much peace, comfort, and assurance of God's love. Death was the door to life and I knew that, but that head knowledge became real to me when I was there in those final moments with my parents. It changed my life.
Jesus' followers only had to wait through Holy Saturday before seeing Him again. Easter was coming, they just didn't know it yet.
We are still waiting in the garden with our losses, fears, doubts and hurts.... I'm still waiting in the garden to see Jesus face to face. I'm not alone. We're not alone because the Holy Spirit is with us and He waits too, with blessed assurance and hope.
Spring continues all around us as signs that this is not the end. When the sun comes up, it is a promise of a new day. I may be still waiting in the garden by the tomb, but I know that Jesus is there with me patiently comforting me as I wait, renewing my spirit with hope that death is not the end.
Death has been conquered because of His great love for us!
Jesus is the resurrection and the life!
Easter is almost here!
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