What Now?

Jesus has been crucified and buried.  It's the Sabbath.  The day of rest.

For westerners it's Saturday, the day between Jesus' death and His resurrection.  For us it's a time of both sadness and expectation.

But for those that were there that day what was it for them?

Reading through the crucifixion and resurrection I began to think about the different people whose lives are intertwined in those events.  I wonder what were they thinking?  What were they doing?  How did Jesus' death affect them?

• Peter - after denying Jesus 3 times, just as Jesus predicted, what was going through his mind.  I can only  imagine the swarm of emotions he must have been  wrestling with.  Where was he now?

• James & John - along with Peter, these two made up the inner circle, Jesus had been telling them for a while this was going to happen.  Did they finally get it?    What did they do next?  Where did they go?  What was the Sabbath like for them?  Sad?  Lost?  Disillusioned?  And of James, to whom Jesus commended His mother?  Now he was responsible for her, the mother of his Savior.

• Mary Magdalene - From the moment Jesus changed her life she followed Him.  She committed her life to Jesus.  She cared for Him and his rag-tag bunch.  Of all Jesus' followers, she truly knew what she had been saved from.  She believed Jesus was who He said He was, there was no denying it.  But now her Savior was dead. . .in the tomb.  What now?

• Pilate - the one man who could have saved Jesus from the cross.  But he did't. . .even after his wife told him of her dream about Jesus and warned him not to have anything to do with him. Even after he found no reason to punish Jesus. Was Jesus just another fanatic to be sacrificed to keep the peace in Jerusalem?  Did he ever think about Jesus again?

• Religious Leaders - that Jesus freak was dead. . .FINALLY!  Were they resting more comfortable now?  Were their minds at ease?    Was Jesus even on their radar now? Or were they even more disturbed because the curtain in the temple had been torn in two, from top to bottom?

• The Crowd - what were they thinking this morning as they got up?  Were they just part of the crowd, caught off guard by mob mentality?  Did they just get swept up in the moment?  Were they proud of themselves because of their support for the religious leaders?  Did they ever stop to think, this may have been the Messiah?

Today, we have the opportunity to know something they didn't.  Jesus would indeed walk out the tomb, never to return.  We know He sits at the right hand of the Father.  But they hadn't connected the dots yet.  In fact, the next day Mary Magdalene and some other women went to the tomb to put some spices on Jesus.  They were expecting a dead Jesus.  They didn't expect Him to be alive!  

I've been wondering what I would have been doing and feeling.  I don't really know to tell you the truth.  Sad?  Maybe.  Hurting?  Possibly.  Confused?  More than likely.

You?

Tomorrow's Sunday!

Mike