The Night Before Easter

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Today is Saturday, the night before Easter. Easter is, of course, the foundation of Christianity. It confirms the Good News of the Crucifixion. But what if you were a disciple of Jesus on the first Easter Eve? What do you think was going through the minds of Peter and John on that day? Even though Jesus had prepared them on more than one occasion, Jesus' death devastated them. Think of it this way: Friday brought devastation and defeat, Sunday brought joy and victory. Saturday is the day between these opposites. It's the day of not knowing. Friday was a period, Sunday an exclamation point, but Saturday is a question mark. We have all three of these kinds of days in our lives. So where might faith play the most important role? Perhaps on Friday or Sunday, but there is something we can know about those days. The Saturdays of our lives are full of unknowns. I think most people would rather know-even if it's bad news-than not know. But faith is built strongest on the Saturdays. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. And in this lies the secret: hope. Without hope devastation turns to despair, and sometimes the despair is so debilitating it blinds us, and we don't recognize Sunday when it comes.

Today is Saturday. Nobody colors eggs for Saturday. Nobody buys a new dress for the unknown. All we are left with is hope. Hope or despair. And here's the thing, we know now that Jesus did rise from the dead. Our hope is based on this great, profound, historical fact. In other words, his resurrection is the down payment on ours. His victory secures our victory.

Certainly it is true that as we look to the future there are still a lot of unknowns, a lot of Saturdays. But we have hope. Hope without knowledge is still hope, but knowledge without hope is nothing. So, today, choose hope. Choose to remember that God is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving. What better to put your hope in that that?

PS: The picture at the right is a solar eclipse of Saturn. Saturday is named after this planet, and the fact that it's blocking the sun in this picture reminded me of the theme of this blog.