Psalm 31:22-24 (KJV)
The Second Day
For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
Devotion
So, here we are: the second day.
We profess with the Apostles’ Creed that, on Good Friday, Jesus was “crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell.” We also acknowledge that, on “the third day [Easter], he rose again from the dead.” But, what to make of this day… the second day?
No doubt the disciples, family and friends of Jesus were despondent. Their savior, brother, son, friend and Lord was… gone. Everything surely seemed hopeless; their shared mission appeared meaningless. Jesus was nowhere to be found, and there was zero evidence of God being at work. It was all over. Everything was lost.
But we now know that wasn’t the case. Though his friends and disciples couldn’t see it, Jesus was engaged in the ultimate work of all time: overcoming the power of sin and death for all of us. I don’t know what that looked like exactly, but wow! Perhaps in a “spare moment” that second day, Jesus smiled and thought, “if they only knew how the Father and I are at work for them right now to redeem the world.”
As we conclude our Lenten journey thinking about what our shared Sunday mornings mean for Monday mornings and other “regular” weekdays, what better lesson to take away than this: even when Christ feels farthest away – when the planet seems to be without hope, when we cannot see the hand of God in action – God is very much at work in our world and in our lives. Let us, therefore, approach not just Easter Sunday but also each of the days ahead with this sure knowledge.
Prayer
Dear God, please grant us the wisdom to perceive your love and your work in the world, even when we can’t immediately see it. And grant us also the faith to be your servants, so we might join in that work come Monday morning… and each day thereafter.
Clay McConnell