Luke 23:54-56 — And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

It’s Saturday. At Easter it often seems as though we treat Saturday as just the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. It’s so much more …
The women prepared spices and ointments … And rested the Sabbath day. What do you think that “rest” was like — for the women, and the other disciples? I can’t think that it was very restful.
“Jesus is dead”. That was the only truth for the disciples on that day. They did not have the benefit of hindsight that we have. Nor, despite all Jesus’s best efforts, had they grasped the truth of his promises to them. All they could say is “Jesus is dead”.
Have you been there? Have you ever come to a point in your life when everything seemed at an end, and there was no future? I have. Myra has.
There was a time in my life when I lost my job. I loved that job. I was good at it. I’d been moving up nicely through the ranks. Then I was suddenly surplus to requirements. I had no job. No future. I was worthless. I had no value.
Myra’s husband died. The death was after a long lingering illness, but still shocking in it’s suddenness, from an unrelated, unexpected cause. Suddenly she was a widow. It happened, literally, on a Friday. On Saturday she was alone, with no friends calling and no future.
On those days when our works crumbles around us are the Good Fridays of our lives. The times after when we cannot see the future are the Easter Saturdays of our lives.
There is of course, a little wrinkle that we have to deal with. Our Saturdays can be long. Our Saturdays can be longer than we can ever imagine. Our Saturdays can be so long that we don’t even know that that is what they are.
Yesterday I mentioned “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming” — that great sermon of Good Friday hope. But where will we find Easter Saturday hope? There’s one place. You know where it is … I have no deep unexpected answer to the question. Our hope lies in our hindsight!
Unlike those disciples, we know about that Sunday. We know Saturday follows Friday … But we also know that Saturday is followed by that glorious Sunday. We know that today, Jesus is dead … But tomorrow, He’s alive!