Silent Saturday

Not in Control

John 19:31–33 “Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.”

John 19:38–42 “After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.”

The Path through the Wilderness produces greater fruitfulness in people’s lives than the Victories of Resurrection

The wilderness themes are sin, repentance, suffering, trial, temptation….REALLY EXCITING RIGHT!!!

But it’s amazing how throughout this series I’ve had multiple people tell me about the healing, conviction, repentance, and restoration.

Why…??

Because the path to the promises of God for your life, to experience TRUE SALVATION, leads through the spiritual wilderness.

We live in an instant-gratification world. We want it now.

We often settle for counterfeit religion instead of a REAL ENCOUNTER with the risen Jesus that changes not just our “beliefs” or our church affiliation…

Jesus changes our lives:

The way we live on Monday

The way we respond to pressure (How’s your banana?)

What we do in private when no one else is looking

How we speak to our family

How we love our neighbor

We are in the final week of Lent

Have you ever tried something hard and felt like you were so close to accomplishing it, only to find out this last part is probably the hardest part!?

I felt that way at the start of the week…WHEN WILL THIS TEST BE OVER!!

A friend of mine posted a sermon study this past week titled: “Lent is ALMOST over…Time to Give Up!

I was camping a couple years back for the first time at a campground up in Cherokee…There was a trailhead that some of the other campers told me was a “short hike” up the trail through the mountain to get a beautiful view of the Smokey Mountains and the sunset

[Just a piece of advice, if anyone says ‘its just a short hike’ up the trail, DON’T BELIEVE THEM!]

…the path was built in a Z pattern…every time I would go up another long uphill stretch I was sure that the NEXT turn would be that view I was looking for…I would finally be at the mountain top! But all I would see was another uphill stretch of trail.

Sometimes it feels like just when we’ve totally repented, totally forgiven that person, totally let go of that habit in our life…we turn the corner and see we still have a ways to go.

Silent Saturday

Holy Week: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday (The Last Supper), Good Friday, Silent Saturday, and Resurrection Sunday

What starts in celebration (Palm Sunday), also ends in even greater celebration (resurrection Sunday)!

But it’s the days between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday that call us to…

“Let Go”

Surrender to God’s Plan

Stop Fighting, Kicking, and Screaming

Follow Jesus all the way to the Cross

Principle: You can’t have a resurrection without a death.

Something has to die in your life…you have to walk the path of Holy Week all the way to Silent Saturday.

The Garden Tomb

I want to show you something that struck me on this most recent trip to the place where they buried Jesus in Jerusalem…

[slide] I have this picture of the site of the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem.

Visiting the tomb this time something struck me…

When you think about a place for burying the dead, what kind of place do you think of???

A Graveyard…cold, desolate, dark, lifeless

You would think the place of Silent Saturday would be like the wilderness.

John 19:40–41 “So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.”

The place of giving up…the place of finally letting go, wasn’t a lifeless place…it was a GARDEN.

Genesis 2:8–9 “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food”

Isaiah 58:11 “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

Isaiah 51:3 “For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.”

Jeremiah 31:12 “They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.”

Psalm 1:1–3 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

Revelation 22:1–2 “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

What Started in a Garden (Genesis), and ends in a Garden (Revelation), also goes through a Silent Garden of giving up and trusting God’s plan for your life.

Questions I’m asking myself in the final week through the Wilderness:

What are you still clinging onto out of fear?

Do you believe Jesus is with you on Silent Saturday?

Can you finally Let Go and Rest in the Garden Tomb?