Holy Weekনমুনা

I love my kids, but sometimes that love for them can be expressed a bit too passionately. Usually, it’s right before bedtime, after a really long day, on about the 17th excuse of why they can’t go to bed (hungry, bathroom, not tired, forgot something, etc.). My frustrations get the best of me, and I will lose it, in a passionate dad sort of way.

Without fail, I’ll go to bed after all has settled and regret my reactions. After I ask the Lord for forgiveness and grace in those moments, I go to bed with joyful anticipation for the morning because I know what awaits me. Every morning my son wakes up and comes right into my office, knocks my Bible off my lap, and curls up in my arms. These are the moments I cherish. After an evening like I described, one of the sweetest moments of reconciliation is grasping ahold of my son, telling him how much I love him, and apologizing to him for getting too frustrated. Every time, without fail, he shows up, we make up and head out together to tackle the day. In our home, there’s always new life in the mornings!

This is the promise of the Saturday of Holy Week — new life is coming in the morning. The Jewish Sabbath is celebrated on Saturday. As Jesus was arrested, beaten, crucified, and buried on Friday, the Saturday sabbath before the resurrection is not just another day of mandatory rest, but a sabbath that will result in a new order of creation and life. The brilliant G.K. Chesterton teaches the sabbath Jesus spent in the earth was the last sabbath of the old creation that was stained by Adam’s sin. Chesterton declares, “On Sunday morning the disciples were looking at the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth.”

Maybe you can relate to the emotions that must have been present to the Jews living through this chaotic time. The long-awaited Messiah triumphantly arrives only to be brutally crucified days later. Imagine the hopes and dreams shattered as the sun rises on the Saturday sabbath. Little did they know the new life was coming in the morning.

The same promise stands for us today. This Saturday may not be what you expected, but new life is coming in the morning. Rest in the Lord dear child, the Son is rising tomorrow!