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

Wallpaper Removal and A New Creation

Recently my wife and I tackled a small project in our bathroom. The wallpaper having been around since the Reagan presidency had earned a well deserved retirement. My past experiences with wallpaper involved buckets of vinegar and water followed by hours of frustration and scraping. In this modern age I was advised of new and better things.

Reality set in after carefully following all directions to perforate the paper spray and wait 5 minutes. Hmmm well other than smelling differently than vinegar and costing 10 times as much the results were about the same. One hour in with 10% of our tiny bathroom finished I called Home Depot asking if they didn’t have anything stronger. A steamer is what you need for old wallpaper I was told. I wasn’t sure why anyone would remove new wall paper but I shelled out another $50 figuring this would do the trick. Weeeeeell not so much! Another 7 hours of steaming and scraping brought us to the brilliant conclusion that we should have just ripped out the wall and put in new sheet rock!

That’s exactly what Jesus has in mind for our life in Christ. No amount of steaming and scraping of our outsides has any impact on our hearts. Only on the cross as Jesus spilled His blood could an entirely new life be given us. God decided to completely remove all our past by the death of His Son so He could begin again with a brand new creation!