*This series of posts walks through the Holy Week timeline, day by day, as told in the Gospel of Mark. You can view Sunday’s post here, Monday here, Tuesday here, Wednesday here,Thursday here, and Friday here.
Silence in Scripture
Storyline
The Gospel of Mark, along with the rest of the gospels, are silent on what happened on the Saturday following Jesus’ death. Joseph of Arimathea was able to bury Jesus before sundown on the day Jesus died, as prescribed by Jewish law (Deut 21:23), and then there was silence on the day of the Sabbath.
Devotional
There is much that we can speculate upon as to what that Saturday was like for Jesus’ followers, and many people have. Surely there was confusion and solitude, as they grieved his humiliating and public death. But, I think there is a reason why Mark was silent about this day. Perhaps we’re not supposed to speculate, but to embrace the “day of the in between”. So much of our lives today are lived in the midst of the unknown, of waiting and trusting. We always desire to have a set plan and guarantees of what lies ahead, but the reality is we often don’t. So we wait in the silence, we remain faithful in the unknown, and trust that God is always at work even while we aren’t, just as was the case that day in between Jesus’ death an resurrection.
Questions to consider:
What is something you’re waiting for in your life? How do you think God wants to grow you in this time of waiting?
Prayer:
God, we are affirmed in our need and desire to come to you even when its in silence and we may be tempted to feel it’s not worth it. Give us the faith to know you are always at work, you never take a day off, and that you will never lose control of our lives or the world around us.