BLACK SATURDAY

Reading: Mark 15:42-16:1

Passage: Mark 16:1

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they could go and anoint him.

Reflection: For anyone who has had to lay a loved one to rest, it is difficult to imagine what that day of waiting must have been like. In addition, there was the way Jesus died, and on top of that, there was the devotion to him as the fulfillment of God’s promise to send an anointed one who would lead Israel into a Kingdom that would never end. This may, quite frankly, be impossible for us to imagine. However, Mark holds this time as a dark gap between when the women noted where the tomb was on Friday, and went out early the day after the Sabbath (Sunday). 

What was to happen would alter the scope of reality.

For us who are walking through troubling, uncertain, and seemingly hopeless moments this day is useful. We recognize the reality of the space between Friday and Sunday and appreciate the sovereignty of God in these times. Black Saturday reminds us of the pain and loss the disciples must have felt with gaping silence as their comfort. It is moments like these that we are left with our understanding of the goodness of God as our refuge. What if we did not know him?

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, thank you for blessing us with the Scriptures. Thank you for the ability to lament, and for being so faithful to us that we can cry out to you in times of distress. Help us invite those who do not know you, to enter into relationship with you that no one may feel forsaken during the darkest of days. Thank you for not only being with us on every day of the week, but creating them.

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