Yesterday the powers-that-be executed the leader of your revolution.

Tomorrow, he will rise from the dead.

But today, you don’t know that.

Saturday is a day of hopelessness. Grey, sad, bleak, crushing, soulless hopelessness.

Saturday is the black hole of the Holy Week. It exists tucked between the agonizing passion of Friday and the unfathomable joy of Sunday.

It could be easy to slide through Holy Saturday without giving it much thought. After all, we know the end of the story. We see the victory on the horizon.

The disciples didn’t.

The events the day before dashed all of their hopes. It crushed their dreams. Liberty was within their grasp. Then it vanished with a few swings of a hammer.

The scriptures don’t say much about the Saturday after the crucifixion of Jesus. What’s to say? Everything went grey. The fog of grief veiled their minds. The revolution was over. Rome triumphed. The religious establishment triumphed. The devil triumphed. The disciples cowered in fear, hearts broken; wondering when the powers-that-be would come knocking down their door. How long until they met Jesus’ fate?

The disciples had invested their entire lives into the revolution. They gave up everything to follow the messiah.

Now he lay rotting in a tomb.

The Jewish people expected that the Messiah would appear as a great and powerful political leader in the vein of David. He would throw off the Roman yoke and usher in a new era of Jewish supremacy. They anticipated a great military victory over their Roman conquerors and a reestablishment of their earthly kingdom. Yes, there was a strong spiritual aspect in their conception of the savior, but primarily they viewed the messianic promise through a political lens.

The disciples undoubtedly shared this expectation. Christ flipped Jewish messianic conceptions on their head. Instead of preaching power, he preached meekness and submission. Instead of calling for vengeance against their oppressors, Jesus told the people to love their enemies. Instead of fighting back, Jesus said, “Turn the other cheek.”

Jesus tried to explain to his disciples that his kingdom was different. He told them that his kingdom would come not through conquest, but submission. He told them that he had to suffer and die. He told them victory would come through his sacrifice.

They mostly didn’t get it. When Jesus started talking about his impending death, Peter rebuked him. (Mark 8:32). The disciples argued about who would sit in the positions of power around Jesus’ throne. Peter even tried to kick off the revolution by swinging a sword. (Jesus told him to put it away.)

The crucifixion obliterated their expectations. No revolution. No throne. No new kingdom.

Little did the disciple know that on Saturday, the kingdom was already established. Jesus said so with his last breath. “It is finished.” All that remained was the victory lap. But that was still a day away.

On Saturday it was all hopelessness and despair.

I think we mostly live our lives stuck in an endless series of Holy Saturdays. Beaten down. Weary. Afraid.

We need to remember Sunday is coming.

This Easter season feels particularly Saturdayish. The world remains under house arrest. Politicians are reveling in their sociopathic tendencies. And it is becoming increasingly clear that most of our neighbors have no desire to live free.

But here’s the truth; Jesus is on the throne. The victory has been won. We can’t get stuck in Saturday. We have to push through to Sunday and walk in victory.

Answering Pilate, Jesus told him, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now, my kingdom is from another place.”

His kingdom is alive and well. Death couldn’t even defeat it.

As I said on the last GodArchy podcast, these last few weeks have served as a poignant reminder. Political philosophies break down. Government solutions fail. You know what doesn’t fail?

Love your neighbor doesn’t fail.

Mercy doesn’t fail.

Peace doesn’t fail.

Jesus doesn’t fail.

Don’t forget; tomorrow is Sunday.