What if He Simply Rested?

It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Luke 23:54-55 ESV

We all know the amazing and cruel events of Good Friday and how on Easter, Jesus rose from the dead, but have you ever wondered about that day in between? Regardless of the songs, speculations and very elaborate tales, the Bible does not specifically tell us what occurred on Holy Saturday. So, I would like to ask a simple question. “What if Jesus just rested? What if when He said, “It is finished!” and gave His spirit into his Father’s hands, He rested for a day without sorrow, suffering or demands? What if after three and a half years of ministry, in which He had nowhere to lay his head and scarcely time to eat, that Jesus chose to rest in His Father’s ability to do all that needed to be done for the day. And what if Jesus also rested because it was the Sabbath? What if the same day on which the creation of the heavens and earth was finished that Jesus simply paused to see everything that was good in a new creation just beginning? What if there are times in our own lives when there is nothing more holy that we can do than wholly nothing? What if we could take a day and quietly reflect and rest in the completed work of Jesus Christ? What would our lives be like if for even one day a week we simply paused to rest in all that God has done? What if we rested so that through the eyes of Jesus, we could see His new creation unfolding in lives all around us as well as in the deepest places of our hearts?

Photo by Mare Collantes on Pexels.com

Our Mansion of Rest

As we just spent eight days with a home filled with grandchildren, our son and daughter-in-law, I am a week behind in my daily readings. Though our family is well, and we are blessed beyond measure, the events in Ukraine have left my heart heavy. The reading in Charles Spurgeons Morning by Morning reminded me that we can always have hope because though we have no true place of permanent peace anywhere on earth the presence of God will be our home forever.

“The Christian might be rich today and poor tomorrow. He could be sick today and well tomorrow. He might be happy today and in distress tomorrow. However, there is no change with regard to his relationship to God. If God loved me yesterday, He loves me today. My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord.”

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Morning by Morning: Daily Devotional Readings (p. 59). Aneko Press. Kindle Edition.

Time To Come Home

We went with her along the path 
Through turns and twists and more
Till angels took her by the hand
As we walked out on the shore

They led her to a waiting ship
Then she smiled and turned to say
“Don’t weep for me I hear His call
- Time to come home today!”

Time to Come Home
by Peter Caligiuri
copyright 2021 all rights reserved

In memory of my wife’s sister Diane who we laid to rest yesterday after a year long battle with Interstitial lung disease. Over the last year Nancy spent 5 months caring for her. We flew out to California on Monday and it has been a long week for us both. Thanks for the prayers of those who follow this blog. This little verse puts in words a tiny piece of the comfort that God has given us right now. I pray it may touch someone else dealing with a season of grief.