Good day to ya everyone. We are going to get a full understanding of the significance of this awesome day in the lives of us all!
Today’s Prayer
Father, on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ I come before you with requests. As Resurrection day approaches, let us take time to examine our hearts. Your Word says that we are to grow in holiness, that we must “be holy as You are holy” – this is not an option, but a requirement. Our Easter should not be just lilies and bunnies, or even just hymns and cantatas — a once-a-year commemoration. Rather, Easter should follow a time of personal assessment – have we grown this past year, in building a deeper relationship with You, reading Your Word, and seeking to know Your will for our lives? Or have we forgotten the commitment that we made, putting our Christianity “on hold,” believing that we are “good enough” to suit ourselves? Remind us that Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb for us that we might be freed from the bondage of sin and have eternal life. Remind us too, that we are to tell others about You. Help us to strive to “be holy as You are holy.” In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
HOLY SATURDAY
Over the years, many people have wondered silently and some not so silently; “What is Holy Saturday?”
The Answer to that question is; Holy Saturday is the name given to the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Some Christians recognize Holy Saturday, the seventh day of Holy Week, as the day on which Jesus “rested” from His work of providing salvation. As Jesus died, He called out, “It is finished!” There was no further price to pay; sin had been atoned for.
After His crucifixion, Jesus was laid in a nearby tomb, and His body remained there the entirety of Holy Saturday (Matthew 27:59-60; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53-54; John 19:39-42). Churches that celebrate Holy Saturday traditionally do so by observing a day of somber reflection as they contemplate the world of darkness that would exist without the hope of Christ’s resurrection.
Indeed, without the resurrection of Christ, we would be in dire straits. If Christ had never been raised, “your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). The disciples had scattered when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:50), and they spent the first Holy Saturday hiding for fear of also being arrested (John 20:19). The day between Christ’s crucifixion and His resurrection would have been a time of grief and shock as the stunned disciples tried to understand the murder of Jesus, the betrayal of Judas, and the dashing of their hopes.
The only biblical reference to what happened on Holy Saturday is found in Matthew 27:62-66. After sundown on Friday—the day of Preparation—the chief priests and Pharisees visited Pontius Pilate. This visit was on the Sabbath, since the Jews reckoned a day as starting at sundown. They asked Pilate for a guard for Jesus’ tomb. They remembered Jesus saying that He would rise again in three days (John 2:19-21) and wanted to do everything they could to prevent that. As we know, the Roman guards were inadequate to prevent the resurrection, and the women who returned to the tomb Sunday morning found it empty. The Lord had risen.
THE NEW BEGINNING
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. –Clarence W. Hall