The Silent Saturday

Easter weekend acrivities mostly dont include Saturdays. Friday and Sunday get the press. The crucifixion and resurrection command our thoughts. But don’t ignore Saturday. You have them, too.

Much happened on Friday. Man rejected God. A d God He made himself heard on Friday. He tore the curtains of the temple, opened the graves of the dead, rocked the earth, blocked the sun of the sky, and sacrificed the Son of Heaven. Earth heard much of God on Friday.

But what about the silent Saturday "the day between the struggle and the solution? God knows Jesus is in the tomb, why doesn’t He do something?

Think about this: if God had resurrected Jesus in 15 minutes after His death, would you have believed in resurrection? Or would you doubt He ever died? Saturday underscores the full conviction of death and underscores the resurrection.

Or, in your case God knows your career is in the tank, your finances are in the pit, your marriage is in a mess. Why doesn’t He act? What are you supposed to do until He does?

In the words of Max Lucado,
You do what Jesus did. Lie still. Stay silent. Trust God. Jesus died with this conviction: “You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay” (Acts 2:27 NIV).

Jesus knew God would not leave him alone in the grave. You need to know, God will not leave you alone with your struggles. His silence is not his absence, inactivity is never apathy. Saturdays have their purpose

The Mandatum

Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter, believed to be the day when Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples. Most notably, that Passover meal was when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in an extraordinary display of humility. He then commanded them to do the same for each other.

Christ's "mandate" is commemorated on Maundy Thursday---"maundy" being a shortened form of mandatum (Latin), which means "command." It was on the Thursday of Christ's final week before being crucified and resurrected that He said this last commandment to His disciples. Jesus and his disciples had just shared what was known as the Last Supper and he was washing their feet when he stated:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34).

Many people and churches observe Maundy Thursday with a Communion service and a foot-washing ceremony. These traditions help Christians reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus and his commandment for us to love and serve others.

Every time we participate in communion, we recognize what happened during the events of Maundy Thursday. That our Lord Jesus was betrayed, to be tried and crucified the next day on Good Friday.

Equally importantly, we must remember that last commandment and His personal example of the highest level of humility, when He stooped to wash the disciples feet.

While Scripture doesn't talk about celebrating or forbid us to commemorate days like Maundy Thursday, the main question is are we observing Christ's new command to love---especially those who deserve it least? Are we building humility?

The Battle of Lent

Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Lent is nearly over, and different people have practiced different forms of sacrifice through this time. Fasting, giving up some things, making a change for the better are some. Bringing in change, overcome negative or bad habits, reviving faith and sacrificing self for renewal in God are some outcomes which we try and achieve during this time. For some, it ends at the end of the period, for a few it continues to the next lent when we further renew ourselves.

It seems, every lent is Gods battle to renew us. For us, it is a battle between self-seeking motivation, self-will and folly on the one hand and God's expectation on the other. The human mentality which tells us to enjoy the day with physical pleasures as against our aspiration to enjoy the day with Gods peace. This has been depicted so well in the painting by Peter Bregel the Elder in his painting titles the Fight between Carnival and Lent, which is the cover photo. 

THE sadness is that while we become or try to become an ideal follower of Gods way, after lent we sort of backslide and revert back to our old self. This seems to be a self-defeating purpose to observe lent sacrifices and then backslide. Did Jesus, whose death and resurrection we celebrate, backslide? If He had, we would not be writing or reading this blog, there would be no churches and there would be no such thing as the Christian.