Stop Living Like It's Saturday - 6/23/2024

Stop Living Like It’s Saturday - Matthew 28:1-8
We have extensive details in the gospels about Friday, the day that our Lord was crucified. We also have many details about Sunday, the day of His Resurrection. But what about Saturday? John tells us that the disciples did not understand the resurrection (John 12:16). Luke tells us they gathered and rested on the Sabbath (Luke 23:52-56). We know from Mark 16:10 that the disciples were mourning and weeping. They were overwhelmed with sadness at His death, even though Jesus had prepared them for it and told them He would rise from death. Paul reminds us that without the crucifixion and the resurrection, belief in Jesus is worthless (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
Today we know about Sunday. We know the hope and victory the resurrection brings. Yet many are still living like it is Saturday. What can we do when our faith is a Saturday faith and not a Sunday faith?
See the promise not the problem. For Martha the promise was in the form of five words - “your brother will rise again” (John 11:23). The cross was not the final chapter. The death of Jesus, as important and as necessary as it was, was not the end.
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
See Jesus. He is more than a stabilizing doctrine. He is an “ever-present help in trouble” (Psalms 46.1). Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the “Exact representation of His being” (Hebrews 1:3). Our resurrected Lord was and is the vivid vision of God. We need to see Him daily, powerfully involved and personally concerned about our lives.
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you” (Romans 8:11).
See beyond circumstances. Jesus called Martha to “believe” (John 11:25). That is to trust God and become more impressed with His faithful character than the frustrating circumstances of life.
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).