Silent Saturday By Steve Gonzalez Jesus died the day before, and the disciples had no idea about Resurrection Sunday, even though Jesus had told them about it many times. Yet to see Him die on the cross that way, who would have ever thought that there could be a Resurrection Sunday. They believed in miracles after Jesus fed 5000 men with a few loaves of bread and a few tiny fish. They believed after a leper, or a blind man was touched by Jesus and they were healed immediately. They believed the parables and hung on every word that Jesus spoke. Sure they saw Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus, after being in the tomb for four days. But what they saw on the cross, with Jesus being so beaten and bloodied to the point that you could barely tell it was a man. What miracle could be accomplished out of this? Who would even want to be resurrected after such a beating? Yet still, they were silent and afraid while mourning the loss of their Teacher and Friend who they had spent three years with. A mother was still in tears from seeing her Son hanging on the cross the day before, body ripped to shreds and dying for what? Loving and helping others and doing nothing wrong? What was her Son’s crime, no one could explain it to her and she was in to much pain to even ask. God performed a miracle in her by placing Jesus in her womb when she was a young girl who had not known a man. Thirty three years later she still remembers the words of the Angel Gabriel to her. Oh how she wished the Angel was there right now to speak God’s words of comfort and instruction to her. But nothing... it was a Silent Saturday. No, there will not be a Resurrection Sunday in Mary’s heart or mind. Just hopes that one day she will pass from this earth, and see her Son, Jesus, once again in heaven. The disciples were hiding in fear, wondering if they too would have to suffer the same fate that Jesus did. They trembled as they would hear the noise of Roman soldiers’ outsides their door. Just the sound of footsteps would make their hearts pound in fear wondering if they would be next as they remember hearing Jesus cry from the cross the day before, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” as they too felt the same way this Silent Saturday, wondering what good can come out of this, and why has God forsaken them? All they could think was that all their hope and joy had died on the cross. Plus the fact that they ran away in fear, instead of fighting for their Friend and Teacher the morning before when He was arrested, caused them to feel shame as well as sorrow. For the ten it was like this, but not for Peter, who tried to protect Jesus in the garden, but he felt like he failed. He could also still see those piercing eyes of Jesus as the rooster crowed for the second time that morning, after Peter had denied that he even knew Jesus at all for the third time. “I am the worst of the worst” was all Peter could think of as his tears continued to flow and his body shaking, not from the cold, but from the fear that when he died, that Jesus will never have anything to do with him ever again. Peter never feared death when he was with Jesus, but now, he feared it more than he had ever feared it before. Not death itself, but having to face Jesus, who Peter denied, to save his own skin. Yes, it was a Silent Saturday full of tears and pain, with no hope in sight. Resurrection Sunday was coming, but they didn’t know about Resurrection Sunday, all they knew was, Friday was not a good Friday and Saturday was a silent, sorrowful Saturday, with no hopes that Sunday would be any better. This may be a Silent Saturday for many today and you don’t know about the hope of Resurrection Sunday. But when it seems that all hope is gone, true hope rises in all His glory and that hope is Jesus Christ, and knowing that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Yes, even for those like Peter, they can have hope as Peter found out on Resurrection Sunday, when he saw the empty tomb, and remembered how Jesus loved all the outcasts, sinners and lowlifes of this world. Peter remembered his Teacher and Friend for Who He was, and would soon find out for Who He still is. His Savior, God and King. But first he must experience Resurrection Sunday. Jesus, He is our Hope, He is our Joy, He is our King and our God. Resurrection Sunday is coming, and when it does, rejoice in that day, just as the disciples did when they saw that their hope had risen from the dead on Resurrection Sunday, three days later, just as Jesus said He would!!! May today be that Resurrection Sunday for those of you who have never experienced it before. If God can take dried up old bones and breath life into them so they come back to life, He can resurrect your sinful dead body into a new life in Jesus Christ. He can take your Silent Saturday and turn it into a Resurrection Sunday, because Jesus is Resurrection Sunday!!!. All rights reserved solely by the author. The author guarantees all contents are original and do not infringe upon the legal rights of any other person or work. No part of these books or stories may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author.

Silent Saturday by Steve Gonzalez