Bewildered // Holy Saturday

As they lowered His lifeless body from the cross, the images of Jesus cruel death flashed through their mind.

The lashings. The piercing of His hands. The cry of their Lord. The taunting of the people.

They were hoping against all hope for a miracle. Maybe God will send His angels. Maybe He would come down of that cross. It still seemed possible then. He was still alive, and there was maybe, just maybe a small possibility.

But as they saw His lifeless body, they could see the image of water and blood coming out from His side as if it just happened. It seemed like the story had ended.

All the promises, all the hopes dashed. He saved others. Could He not have, maybe, saved Himself?

And now all they had was the silence of the tomb.

Holy Saturday must have been a bewildering day for the disciples and followers of Jesus. Struck with fear and confusion, they all reacted differently, but they must all have been bewildered.

After all, this was the promise Messiah, meant to save His people. How could it end with… death?

Questions but no answers. Memories maybe, although they wished it was not just that. They were faced with the reality of Jesus lifeless body in a tomb.

We were not there that day, and hence cannot fully imagine what must have transpired on that long long day after Jesus’ death.

But for many of us, we may have tasted a little bit of that sense of bewilderment and confusion as we live in wait of Jesus coming again. We may not have seen the death of Jesus with our physical eyes, but we may have had times where our dreams and hopes have been dashed, or loved ones snatched from our lives. And we are left wrestling with questions, doubts and bewilderment.

And God allows for that.

Today, we remember that although of course the story is not over, God does allow us to go through the silence of Holy Saturday. Where He is OK with us questioning and even doubting. Where He allows us to lament, and deal with the uncertainties of the future and the questions in our mind.

He is big enough for our why’s, and for a moment He allows us to sit through the bewildering Holy Saturdays in our life.

Whatever you are going through, allow yourself the gap of Holy Saturday.

But remember, as surely as the tomb was shaken, there is always hope of resurrection.