A couple thousand years ago, Jesus hung on a cross and died. It was all action up until then. Palm branches, shouts of Hosanna, washing of feet, deep lessons about serving and loving, cruel kisses, violent attacks, big-time officials, final decrees, weeping, lashing, pain, earthquakes, darkness, and torment.
And then…nothing.
After all that fanfare and drama, there was just a dead man hanging there on a cross.
That’s when someone had to find somewhere to put him. The horror subsided and the mourning had to begin. The Sabbath had to be obeyed and life had to go on.
Everyone had to look at a tomb and admit the obvious: Jesus was dead.
They knew nothing of His coming resurrection. The wind didn’t whisper the secret that God knew. The rocks didn’t cry out that hope lived still and the final victory was assured.
Hearts had to let go of how it was “supposed to be”, wrestle with “if only we had done something differently”, and embrace the mourning of a friend, a hope, and a future that had all died together up there on that cross.
But God knew Sunday was coming.
God always knows Sunday is coming. He sees our sorrow and He wipes our tears and He rests in knowing that His plan will not be thwarted. Not by lies. Not by man’s sin. Not by poorly executed plans. Not by death. Nothing can stop God’s love.
God is always asking us to rest as well. We are to rest in knowing Him, to love as He loved, and to trust it’s all going to be okay.
Go ahead, mourn what ails us all. Face the saddest truths head-on. Lift up your head and wail for the lost, the broken, the sick, and the poor. Raise an outcry for justice here on earth, fight for the underdog, open your home to the orphan, and give your last loaf to the hungry.
What’s good about Friday? That God reigns on high and that we are still here to do His will.
We know how the story goes, and we need to show the world that Sunday always comes in the end.
Bring Sunday to someone today, and make Friday good. That’s what life is really about….
