Silent Saturday

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19) 

The significance of Saturday can sometimes be missed in the Easter story. Yet in many ways this in-between day best reflects the place we find ourselves in the world and helps us orientate ourselves. ‘It is finished’ and yet there is much wrong with our world. We inhabit this space, the ‘now and not yet’, a time of struggle between suffering and solution. On this day, when heaven was silent, Jesus lay still and his followers stricken with grief. After the year we have had, this feels particularly poignant. Make a list of some questions you have right now, some things you don’t understand, disappointments, doubts and offer them to God.

In what ways can you make friends with silence today?