On Easter weekend much is said about Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and rightfully so. But what about The Day in Between, the Sabbath when Jesus rested in the tomb? What, if anything, do those sacred hours have to teach us? As we consider this, two primary lessons jump out.
First, in Acts 13:29, Paul describes how “…they took [Jesus] down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.” Luke, however, adds an interesting observation, stating, “It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.” Luke 23:54
In Luke 23:55-56 he also mentions that “The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee … went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”
Why this emphasis on the Sabbath? If Jesus’ sacrifice had abolished the 10 Commandments why even bother to mention it?
In Genesis 2:2 and 3, it says, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
When God finished His work of creation he rested on the seventh-day, blessing it and making it holy. Now again, as the Son of God finishes His work of redemption, He and His followers rest again on the seventh-day, “in obedience to the commandment.”
By doing this Jesus sets an example for His followers for all the ages to come. The Seventh-day Sabbath was not abolished at the Cross. It was and always will be a special day set aside to commune with God and to celebrate His creative and recreative power and everlasting love for His children.
The second lesson we learn from The Day in Between is a message of hope. All of us have lost loved ones, but this day gives us reason to rejoice. Just as Jesus rested in the tomb throughout the Sabbath hours, so also our loved ones and friends who have died merely rest in their graves, waiting to hear Jesus say, as He did to Lazurus, “Come forth!”
Our loved ones are asleep, awaiting the last trump, when “the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. On that wonderful day, “we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (v. 17).
This is the hope of The Day in Between, the promise of these sacred hours. Just surely as Jesus was raised on the third day, so also all who have believed on His Name and accepted His sacrifice as payment for their sins, will also also rise again. Families will be restored, parents and children will be reunited, never again to part.
So, on this Day in Between, these sacred Sabbath hours, rest from all your worries and your fears. Look back with joy on the Cross and look forward eagerly to Easter Sunday. And as you do, remember this same Jesus, whose death and resurrection we celebrate, is coming soon to take us home. On that glorious day, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4.
Now that’s a reason to celebrate!