Message Preview | Easter Sunday
By Matt Dawson
As we approach Easter Sunday, every year I am consistently reminded that I have to walk through Saturday before I can experience Sunday. It’s common for churches and believers to spend time reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus made for us by His death on the cross, as well as the multitude of believers that will gather this weekend all over the world to celebrate the power of the resurrection God gave Jesus over death itself.
However, very few will take time to reflect and consider the significance of Saturday.
What’s the deal with Saturday?
Saturday was the day where NO ONE believed in Jesus! It was the probably the most hopeless time in human history! There were no faithful followers outside of the borrowed tomb with a countdown clock and champagne bottles ready to pop open. Even though there was a promise to change everything, as far as the “world” was concerned – that hope died the moment Jesus took His final breath on that cross. As far as His followers were concerned, Hope was laid in a grave forever!
Do you ever stop to wonder what that time would have been like for Jesus’s followers? For His mother and brothers? To all that heard His message that “The Messiah had come!” and shouted “Hosanna” just 1 week earlier? There was nothing but a feeling of loss and hopelessness.
That same feeling of hopelessness still exists today! It exists in the heart of every person who doesn’t have a “spiritual resurrection” through a relationship with Jesus. That same hopelessness is all around us at work, at home, in our schools, and in our communities.
Saturday is important because it helps us better understand and engage with the EVENT that CHANGED EVERYTHING on Sunday!
What changed on Sunday?
Hope was not only RESURRECTED in the person of Jesus Christ, but it was FREELY GIVEN to all who would call upon His Name from that day forward! An absolute Hope that cannot be shaken, cannot falter, and cannot die!
This is why this moment was so significant.
Mark 16:2 Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. 5When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, 6but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. 7Now go and tell His disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there, just as He told you before He died.”
This Easter weekend, don’t lose the opportunity to reflect on the significance of Saturday as you interact with those around you that feel hopeless. There IS HOPE FOR EVERYONE! Invite someone from your Top 5 (just one more time) to JOIN YOU on Sunday morning at Journey as we celebrate our risen Lord together!