The Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verse 1
What happens on Saturday? It's just a big blank day in the story of Holy Week...in all the gospels, actually. Nothing is said. Nothing happens. It's a big pause.
Come to think of it, that's kind of what I like about Saturdays - at least when I get the chance to really have a Saturday: there's no projects, no games, no yardwork, no sermon to finish, no place to go, nothing to do.
OK, I say I like to have a free day on Saturday, but why then do I get so restless? I'm thinking, "I should be doing something! I can't just waste all this time!" As if rest and having no agenda is a waste of time...is doing nothing. So, I let me restless and guilty spirit carry the day, go take off my sleepytime boxers and tshirt, put on some work clothes, and go find something to do so the day won't be chalked up in my internal ledger as a complete write-off.
I've heard all sorts of theories about what Jesus does on Saturday. He spends the day in Hell converting the dead so no one living or dead is denied hearing the gospel. OK, sounds productive. I've also heard all sorts of ideas about what the disciples are doing on Saturday. They're in an upper room, hiding from the authorities, arguing or praying or both. The women are purchasing the spices to anoint Jesus' body the next morning. Boy are they in for a surprise!
But maybe, just maybe, no one is doing anything on this day. Or everyone is doing nothing. Whichever. Including God. Including Jesus.
It is the Sabbath, after all. God ordained in creation (we read about it in Genesis 1) that life should have a rhythm, it should have weekly cycles, which always includes the aspect of pause for rest. OK, it's not a day of complete idleness. But it is a day for stopping the treadmill of life. Not just getting off the treadmill, but actually pulling the plug so it no longer runs. God himself observed the Sabbath in his week of creation - "on the seventh day, God rested."
Now, for me, this is the function of vacations, spring and fall breaks, Christmas break, and rare days off. I'm taking one of these weeks off next week, as a matter of fact. But by the time I get to them, I find, I'm so frazzled and revved up it's hard to alter my rhythm and truly rest. It takes half the week to calm down and relax, and by then, of course, the vacation's already half over!
God ordains time to pause, and reset. Having a break helps me see things I stopped seeing in the rat-race: my children, my spouse, my faith walk, the provision of God in my life and to the created world around me. If I take the pause more regularly, say weekly, as God intended in the wisdom of his creation, maybe it wouldn't take me so long to rev down and appreciate these things fully.
It's been a full week, an emotional week, a really hard week. Friday has been especially brutal - like no Friday, or any day, has ever been. Makes sense for everyone, including the story, to take a rest. So in the gospels...on Saturday...nothing happens.
Maybe this is the best way to be truly prepared for tomorrow.
Gracious Lord, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead, for he is alive and has become the Lord of life, king of our hearts. Increase in our minds and hearts the riesn life we share with Christ, and help us to grow as your people toward the fulness of eternal life with you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
