Saturday of Holy Week is hard.

The disciples’ hopes are dashed. Disappointment and dread lie heavy in their stomachs. Fear is rising quickly in the face of an unknown future.

It feels right now as though we are living in Saturday.

Our hopes are dashed. Disappointment and dread lie heavy in our stomachs. Fear is rising quickly in the face of an unknown future.

Saturday is dark.

Yet – When darkness veils His lovely face, I’ll rest on His unchanging grace.

For we know something that Jesus’ followers did not.

Sunday is on its way.

No matter what your fear in this time of Saturday, Sunday is certain.

For the sick, for the hungry, for the hurting, for the jobless, for the homeless, for the lonely, for the grieving, for the abused,

Sunday will come.

This is why we celebrate Easter, to remind us of the glorious Sunday that is still to come.

This is why, even in this strangest of Easters when none of our normal gathering will occur, it is important to celebrate, to feast, to fill our spaces with joy in whatever way we can manage.

It is important because we are living in the time of Saturday, and we need the reminder of why we do not despair, why we continue to work toward the coming Kingdom.

We need the reminder that no matter what happens on this earth,

Sunday is on its way.

And when the light of Sunday blazes over the horizon, all of the ugliness and horror that happened on Saturday will melt away like the morning fog.

This week, sit with your dashed hope, your disappointment and dread, even your fear on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, for these hard things are real.

But on Sunday prepare to celebrate.

For Sunday is also real, more real than any of those other things, and Sunday will be more glorious than your wildest dreams can imagine.

Sunday is coming.

Let him who walks in darkness
and has no light
trust in the name of the LORD
and rely on his God.
Isaiah 50.10

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Art credits: Preparation of Christ’s Tomb by Vittore Carpaccio; The Angel Opens the Tomb of Christ by Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp; Rabboni sculpture by Gutzon Borglum, photo by Kathleen Cole