Sunday’s on the way…

Easter is coming and as Christians, we know this coming Sunday is not about a big bunny rabbit hiding eggs and chocolate in the grass. It is not even about the new outfit that you purchased to wear to church this weekend. Easter is about a Christian’s greatest hope and about God’s greatest gift to His children. It doesn’t matter that Christ gave up heaven, took on the form of mankind by being born as a baby, lived a perfect and holy life for 33½ years, was tortured, despised, spit upon and hung on a cross: none of that matters if Sunday didn’t happen. It is with the resurrection on Easter Sunday that the plan of salvation for my soul (and yours) was completed. It is with Christ’s victory over death and the grave that our salvation is ensured and guaranteed, if we accept it. But to get to Easter Sunday, Christ had to go through Friday night.

The gospel group TAKE 6 has a song on their second album called, SUNDAY’S ON THE WAY, that takes a kind of comical look at what Satan and his angels go through on that Easter weekend over 2000 years ago. Having crucified Christ, the enemy and his imps are celebrating – having a little party at their victory. But Satan isn’t as into the celebration as one would think he would be. We often diminish the enemy by putting him in a red suit with a pitchfork in one hand and a silly smile on his face, but the Bible tells us that he was (and is) a scholar of the Bible, so when Christ hung on the tree on that fateful Friday evening and cried out to the Father “It is finished,” Satan may have had a moment of patting himself on the back thinking he’d accomplished his goal to destroy Christ, but he also remembered hearing Christ say, “in three days, I will rise again.”

So, picture the scene: it’s Friday night. Christ has been crucified. His body has been quickly laid to rest in a tomb borrowed from one of His disciples so that, even in death, He could rest and celebrate the Sabbath. The disciples are scattered because of fear that they, like Christ, will be put to death. Mary, mother of Jesus, is grieving the inconsolable loss of her son. The priests in the temple are trying to figure out how the curtain between the Holy and the Most Holy place got torn from top to bottom like that. People are all shook up from the earthquake that just hit. Judas is hanging from a tree in disgrace for his betrayal of an innocent Man. It is just bad news all around. Seems like there is no reason for hope.

I know there have been times in my life when I have had a “Friday night before Easter” experience. Relationships torn asunder, bank accounts depleted, utilities turned off, no food in the fridge, and every prayer sent heavenward appeared to bounce off the ceiling – unheard and seemingly unanswered. In the lyrics of my friends’ song, the chorus says:

On Friday night, they crucified the Lord at Calvary
He said, “Don’t fret because in three days, I’m gonna live again
You’re gonna see
So, when problems try to bury you (six feet deep)
And make it hard for you to pray
May seem like that Friday night
BUT SUNDAY’S ON THE WAY

And therein lies the greatness of that Easter Sunday morning long long ago. When Christ rose EARLY on Sunday morning, He rose with victory and “resurrection power” – and the enemy of our souls was defeated. With His rising on Sunday morning, our salvation was…is assured. That is much more important than dyed eggs, chocolate bunnies or new outfits for church, don’t you think?

If you are going through a “Friday night” experience, I encourage you to hold on…Sunday…and your victory over whatever you are going through…is on the way.

Be blessed.

© 2010 Kristina E. Smith
Thursday, 01 April, 2010