Desperation Saturday-the day before the resurrection was a no courage day. The disciples hid in every corner in Jerusalem for fear of a cross that would bear their name. Saturday was a no hope day. It could have been a day of hope, considering all the times Jesus promised big things would happen on the third day. But the disciples did not trust Jesus’ promises of a resurrection. Saturday was a no plans day. They didn’t plan on seeing a Risen Savior on Sunday morning. They didn’t plan to talk to him – they planned to embalm him.
Mark 16:1-3 “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could embalm him. Very early on Sunday morning, as the sun rose, they went to the tomb. They worried out loud to each other, "Who will roll back the stone from the tomb for us?"
In their lower story, it may have been Sunday morning, but the disciples were in a Saturday state of mind. They were stuck on Saturday.
Sunday—resurrection day—is a day of eternal love, life and hope. But it didn’t start out that way. There was some serious concern over the body being stolen. His enemies feared His followers would steal the body and His followers feared His enemies had stolen the body.
His followers had no expectation of a resurrection; so when they discovered the body missing, they thought it had been stolen.
John 20:1-2 “Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Stolen not risen.
No hope, no courage, no plans- in their lower story, He’s gone, the body has been stolen; they were looking for a body not a Savior.
But the Upper Story reality is His Risen not stolen.
Matthew 28:5-6 “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where His body was lying” NIV
The empty tomb points to a Risen Savior not a stolen body. A risen Savior; a body alive not missing. It makes all the difference. The disciples had a Risen Savior but they were living life with a missing body; for them the tomb was empty and the body stolen; no courage, no hope, no plans.
Risen or stolen? It determines how you live life; how you face life’s challenges, how you walk out the desperation Saturdays of your life. It affects how or if you share His life giving truth with others.
Empty tomb- no courage, no hope, no plans, no power. It all changes with a Risen Savior. Fear filled cowards, cowering in the Upper Room became courageous witnesses; disappointed, grief stricken disciples, became dynamic missionaries of their Risen Master; doubters of His promises became declarers of His truth.
Risen not stolen!
Risen not stolen changed their entire life. Fifty days after the resurrection, Peter, the same Peter who had denied even knowing Jesus, stood in the public square and risked his life preaching boldly in Jesus’ name. No stolen body could have caused that; no stolen body could have led the disciples to be tragically martyred for their faith.
Don’t let Easter be a religious ritual, don’t commemorate an empty tomb. He’s risen not stolen; Let the reality of a Risen Savior change your life. Live the Easter Sunday reality every day. Every day you can do life with a Risen Savior; every day the life giving promises of God are yours; every day the indwelling Spirit of the Risen Lord empowers you for everything and anything He has for you.
We all have Saturdays in our life; desperation Saturday is sure to show up. But, for Jesus followers, Saturday will always be followed by Sunday. Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5)
Saturday was the last day of death- Sunday was the first day of life- which day are you living in? It makes all the difference- now and forever.
