Day 27 - Saturday, November 7th
LIFE Journal
This Week's Memory Verse
I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure. Psalm 16:8-9
Devotional
Time was of the essence. His lifeless body hung on the cross and custom required it in a tomb before nightfall. An unlikely volunteer steps forward named Joseph, asking for the body, so that Jewish law was followed. He was a part of the group that had rallied for Jesus’ death, but he had followed closely this man who did the miraculous and proclaimed himself to be God in the flesh.
It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. Mark 15:42-47 NIV
The body was laid in the tomb and the stone was rolled to close it. And there was nothing left to do, but to wait in the Saturday. So often on earth, we can feel stuck in this place between death and resurrection. Waiting. Constantly waiting in the tomb of grief and loss, pain and suffering, all the things we know he is going to once and for all put to death. We know the promise of what is to come means that what we endure here on earth won’t even be a memory for us in Christ. We know that the tomb on all those things was sealed and so life on earth is truly the in between between death and resurrection. It’s hard not to become discouraged in the Saturday, in the space between crucifixion and resuscitation. But just remember our hope, tomorrow the stone is rolled away. Life is going to walk out. Resurrection is coming.
Think On This Verse:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:18-25 NIV
Ask and Answer:
Waiting can be some of the hardest time spent for the children of God. This earth is broken and so we experience grief and suffering. We as believers know this place is as close as we will ever get to the ache of hell and therefore, we can hold out hope for the promise of what is to come after our time here. What feels like the pain of Saturday right now? Do you feel your physical body decaying? Have you experienced the depths of sorrow that seem impossible to move forward from? Know that life on earth holds the promise of Jesus making all things new if we just wait.
It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. Mark 15:42-47 NIV
The body was laid in the tomb and the stone was rolled to close it. And there was nothing left to do, but to wait in the Saturday. So often on earth, we can feel stuck in this place between death and resurrection. Waiting. Constantly waiting in the tomb of grief and loss, pain and suffering, all the things we know he is going to once and for all put to death. We know the promise of what is to come means that what we endure here on earth won’t even be a memory for us in Christ. We know that the tomb on all those things was sealed and so life on earth is truly the in between between death and resurrection. It’s hard not to become discouraged in the Saturday, in the space between crucifixion and resuscitation. But just remember our hope, tomorrow the stone is rolled away. Life is going to walk out. Resurrection is coming.
Think On This Verse:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:18-25 NIV
Ask and Answer:
Waiting can be some of the hardest time spent for the children of God. This earth is broken and so we experience grief and suffering. We as believers know this place is as close as we will ever get to the ache of hell and therefore, we can hold out hope for the promise of what is to come after our time here. What feels like the pain of Saturday right now? Do you feel your physical body decaying? Have you experienced the depths of sorrow that seem impossible to move forward from? Know that life on earth holds the promise of Jesus making all things new if we just wait.
Prayer
Lord, waiting can be so hard as we await the moment when you take away all the pain and brokenness of this world. Help me to focus my eyes on the hope my life in you promises. Remind me that you will make all things new one day and the difficulty I am experiencing today will be completely eclipsed by your glory. In your name I pray, Amen.