Black Saturday Devotion

This Black Saturday Devotion is part of a series of devotions for the week before Easter.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6

Have you ever felt defeated?

Heartbroken and hopeless?

I think we’ve all been there. When you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach and tears burn the back of your eyes. It’s a horrible feeling.

I remember feeling this way a few years back. Something happened that completely devastated me. And I think the weirdest part about it was that I knew it would all turn out okay. I even knew the day and time my world would be right-side up again. But that didn’t help me in the moment. Everything was wrong and nothing I did could make it right.

I think, that’s where those who loved Jesus were on Saturday. They didn’t understand He would be resurrected the next day, but most of them believed God was in control and all of them would be raised to everlasting life at the end of days.

But that didn’t make the death of Jesus any easier to bear. I’m sure it felt like the stone that sealed His tomb was rolled onto their hearts.

The magnitude of what they must have going through is sitting on me this Silent, Black Saturday.

Beyond that, I think the sealed tomb is a picture of where all of us find ourselves today. Life is hard. We know a day is coming where there will be no more tears, but that day isn’t today. And more than likely, it’s not going to be tomorrow either.

That said, we have a choice. We can feel defeated by the darkness surrounding us, or we can embrace the living hope that can be found in the resurrected Christ.

We wait for the trumpet to sound, just as the disciples waited for Christ to rise. How we wait is up to us. Are we focusing on the darkness or striving toward the light at the end of the tunnel?

Find all the devotions in the Holy Week series here.