The Day After Good Friday

by Karen Roberts

I can’t help but believe that the following devotion is critical for someone to read.  I have never had so much difficulty in posting on this blog before.  I had at least half of this written and hit the button to save the draft and the whole thing disappeared.  Then I rewrote and got a bit further and my whole computer screen blacked out.  I had to wait until today, Easter Sunday, to post this.  If the enemy is battling my writing this, then there is great victory that the Lord wants to give to someone who is reading it.  I trust that God will use these words to touch lives!

On Good Friday

Yesterday we set aside time to contemplate the death of Jesus on the cross.  You may have watched a movie about His death, like The Passion of the Christ. Or you might have gone to a special church service in which different speakers presented thoughts on the amazing things that Jesus said while hanging on the cross.  Perhaps you took communion with others, remembering how Jesus gave his body and blood as payment for our sins.  Maybe you read the accounts in the gospels of Jesus’ death.  It may have been a somber time of reflection.

Or it may have been a joyous celebration of how Jesus’ death on the cross purchased your salvation from sin and from hell.  Maybe you danced and sang praises or knelt quietly and prayed.  In whatever way you commemorated Good Friday, I hope it was a wonderful experience of drawing closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Day After

For those of us who have experienced forgiveness and rebirth as we put our faith in Jesus Christ, the day after Good Friday is a day of anticipation.  We look forward to a glorious celebration tomorrow on Easter –  one in which we will marvel over how Jesus conquered sin and death by walking out of His tomb.  Because He was God in the flesh, death could not keep Him down.  He paid for our sins with His blood, and His resurrection proved that He truly can set us free. His resurrection proved that He is God!

The Day After the Crucifixion

But have you ever thought about what it was like for Jesus’ first followers on the day after Good Friday?  I’m sure they had no idea that the day that had just passed would someday be called “good.”

They must have been in despair.  Can you imagine the questions that must have been going through their minds?  Why had this happened?  Wasn’t Jesus their Messiah who was supposed to deliver Israel from the cruel Roman government?  What had happened to the Kingdom of God that Jesus had so often talked about?  What would happen to them?  Would they be arrested next?  Why hadn’t Jesus, the One who had displayed miraculous powers over demons and the forces of nature, knocked his enemies over dead through His power instead of letting them take Him to the cross?  Should they have tried to rescue Jesus?

They probably felt sick with sorrow as the vivid images of how Jesus was tortured and killed were embedded in their minds.  They had looked on in horror as Jesus was whipped until His body was hardly recognizable as that of a man.  They had cringed as the wicked solders forced a “crown” of long thorns into Jesus’ head, put a purple robe over His mutilated body, mocked and spit on Jesus, yanked clumps of His beard out, and tore off the robe, only to open coagulated blood again.  They heard the angry crowd yelling, “Crucify him, crucify him!”  And worst of all, they had witnessed the cruel death of Jesus as He hung there, nailed to a cross.

They had seen Jesus’ body be placed in a tomb and a huge stone rolled in front of it, guarded by Roman soldiers.  They had no idea that the next morning, their Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, would arise from the dead and show His victory over sin and death.  They must have been overtaken by great sadness.  Their day after Good Friday was one of grieving and disillusionment – not one of anticipation.

But Then Came Jesus’ Resurrection – A Day of Victory   

But it was only one more day before everything was turned around.  With their own eyes they saw Jesus alive again.  For forty days He showed up over and over again, and more than 500 people saw Him alive before He went back to heaven.  He promised that some day He will return to take His followers into glory with Him.  As we anticipate Easter, we have great anticipation of that day when He will come for us.

How Are You Feeling Today?

If today you are feeling despair and disillusionment, look beyond the circumstances that you see around you.  Just as Jesus broke out of the tomb, He has breakthrough available for your life.  Put your trust in Him and invite Him to take control of Your life.  Deny yourself and pick up your cross to follow Him.  Your cross may involve unfair hurtful situations, but set them aside and look to the Risen Savior who brings hope, love, joy, and peace to our situations and to our lives.

Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life for you.  Today, renew your commitment to Him and give your life to Him. Watch the video below and meditate on what Jesus has done for you.