2:22 “Men of Israel,
hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles,
wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves
also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge
of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24
whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not
possible that He should be held by it."
Watch this and then meet me back here.
Powerful isn't it? Yet from the first time I saw it,
something was off and I couldn't figure out why. The unknown preacher is using
the death of Jesus and His eventual resurrection as an analogy for a much
broader sweep of time. Friday represents everything Jesus did on our behalf and
everything we did to Him. Sunday represents a new beginning. Just as all
creation began on the first day, so will His return usher in a new beginning.
Indeed Sunday is coming.
Then I figured it out. A day was missing. Saturday/Sabbath.
Picture the scene. The mock trials on Friday, the beatings, the march to
Calvary when Jesus collapsed under the weight of the cross and our sins. The
darkness at noon on Friday, the heart piercing declaration of our emancipation
"It Is Finished!", the earthquake that left no doubt something far
beyond the normal had just occurred. Friday was intense. The supernatural was
undeniable. The intensity was palpable.
And then it was over.
It all just ended.
The sun which reappeared at 3 pm set on the tomb of the now
buried Messiah. It was all over. The earth was eerily quiet. The followers of
Jesus were scattered and devastated. His enemies were satisfied yet uneasy.
Could it be that easy? Was it really over? Was He really gone?
The quiet persisted all the next day. As much as the
supernatural put on an undeniable display the day before, Sabbath was the
opposite. The heavens were silent. The earth was still. There was no sign of
Jesus or the undeniable power of God anywhere. It seemed to be over forever...
You see it isn't Friday. It isn't Sunday either. It's
Sabbath. It seems often that God is truly resting. Some are even so bold and
defiant as to claim God is dead or that He never existed. Even MacLean's
magazine this week on the front cover is asking "Did Jesus really
exist?"
No one asked that on Friday but on Sabbath it began to feel
like His life had just been a dream for some and a nightmare for others.
Here's what the disciple wrote a few years after that dark
Friday followed by a silent Sabbath:
2 Peter 3:4 First off, you need to know that in the last
days, mockers are going to have a heyday. Reducing everything to the level of
their puny feelings, they’ll mock, “So what’s happened to the promise of his
Coming? Our ancestors are dead and buried, and everything’s going on just as it
has from the first day of creation. Nothing’s changed.”
Way back in Genesis God promised His Seed would come. 4000
years later He came. Over 700 years before His arrival Isaiah wrote in detail
about His suffering and death as the Lamb of God.
It's been almost 2000 years since that undeniably
supernatural Friday. The silence since has been long. Will "Sunday"
ever come? You better believe it!
2 Peter 3:8-9 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With
God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God
isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself
on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost.
He’s giving everyone space and time to change.
Today if you hear His voice don't harden heart. Instead grab
on to His mercy and His promises. Sunday is coming...
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