The Saturday before Easter is traditionally a day of waiting, of mourning, of reflection; Holy Saturday. We picture the disciples huddled, hiding in Jerusalem, afraid and disillusioned. They had put their hope in the Galilean carpenter turned Rabbi; they had literally staked their lives on it, and now he’s dead and they are devastated. Holy Saturday is a day to mourn and reflect.
But I wonder if there was a follower of Jesus who believed him when he said he would rise from the dead. We know from the Gospels the 12 disciples did not understand, but what if someone did? Someone like Mary Magdalene whose life had been transformed by her encounter with Jesus, or John Mark who had the faith of a young boy, or Jesus’ mother who believed in her son like only a mother can. I can imagine them trying to rally the tiny remnant of Jesus’ followers, “He will be back, he said he would be back.” No one would listen, no one would believe, but they couldn’t, they wouldn’t let go of hope.
On Saturday their hope made no sense. Jesus was dead, his body buried, the tomb sealed. The disciples were right, it was over; hope had died on the cross with Jesus. Anything else was just wishful thinking.
But, hoping against hope, they still believed. They didn’t see how, they didn’t understand why, but they believed that Jesus would come back. Their Saturday was very different than everyone else in the room. They too were sad, afraid and confused; but deep inside they were hopeful, waiting for a comeback.
A lot of us are waiting for a comeback. All the signs point in the wrong direction, but somehow, some way we hope for a miracle, a restoration, a resurrection. We are scared, discouraged and desperate; but Jesus said he’d be back. We don’t know how, or when or where, but today we wait in hope.
What if, for just a day, we called today Hopeful Saturday? What if, for just a day, we focused on the “already but not yet” aspect of the Gospel? Jesus is dead. The tomb is sealed. Hope is gone. We are already at the end, but the beginning is just a few hours away. Regardless what we see, today we choose hope.
