Now What?

It’s the day after Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. Now the disciples and followers waited. Waited for the day they could prepare Jesus’ body for final burial. Waited for whatever might happen next. They certainly weren’t sure what was going to take place.

If you had been a follower of Jesus, what would you have felt on that Saturday after the crucifixion?

Despair
Hopelessness
Anger
Sadness
Anxiousness
Disappointment
Helplessness
Uncertainty
Grief
Shock
Fear
Gullible

To be honest, these are all valid emotions. But how could it have come to this?

The followers of Jesus believed Jesus to be the Messiah! They believed God had sent Him to fulfill His promises! Why did God let this happen? How could He let this happen?

It was a sad day—how could they possibly know that this was part of God’s plan? How could they possibly know that Jesus would be alive the next day? How could they possibly believe that Jesus would be victorious over death?

Because they had seen it

They saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44). 

They saw Him bring the Widow’s son at Nain back to life (Luke 7:11-15). 

They had seen Jesus raise Jairus’s daughter from the dead (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25; Mark 5:22-24, 38-42; Luke 8:41-42, 49-56). 

These were undeniable miracles. They knew it was possible.

Because Scripture had told them

The prophecies of the Old Testament gave them the hope that it was possible. Here are a couple of them.

Psalm 16:9-10 says, “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” And we can be assured that the believers knew this because Peter used these very verses on the Day of Pentecost while discussing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53 gives a description of the suffering Savior. Verse 10-11 says, “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify any, and he will bear their iniquities.” Paul points to this and other Old Testament Scripture in relation to the resurrection of Jesus when he states “according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:4)

Because Jesus told them

On at least two occasions, Jesus said He would rise from the dead.

Matthew 20:17-19 tells us, “Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!’”

And also, John 2:19 says, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.”

These same promises are ours today. There is no reason to feel any of the emotions listed earlier in regard to your spiritual life. We have hope. We have a future. We have the promises of God.

We also know that Jesus was alive on Sunday morning. For that, we can rejoice and be thankful.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna