“There is one particular day in Western history about which neither historical record nor myth nor Scripture make report. It is a Saturday. And it has become the longest of days. We know of that Good Friday which Christianity holds to have been that of the Cross. But the non-Christian, the atheist, knows of it as well. This is to say that he knows of the injustice, of the interminable suffering, of the waste, of the brute enigma of ending, which so largely make up not only the historical dimension of the human condition, but the everyday fabric of our personal lives. We know, ineluctably, of the pain, of the failure of love, of the solitude which are our history and private fate. We know also about Sunday. To the Christian, that day signifies an intimation, both assured and precarious, both evident and beyond comprehension, of resurrection, of a justice and a love that have conquered death. If we are non-Christians or non-believers, we know of that Sunday in precisely analogous terms. We conceive of it as the day of liberation from inhumanity and servitude. We look to resolutions, be they therapeutic or political, be they social or messianic. The lineaments of that Sunday carry the name of hope (there is no word less deconstructible).
“But ours is the long day’s journey of the Saturday. Between suffering, aloneness, unutterable waste on the one hand and the dream of liberation, of rebirth on the other. In the face of the torture of a child, of the death of love which is Friday, even the greatest art and poetry are almost helpless. In the Utopia of the Sunday, the aesthetic will, presumably, no longer have logic or necessity. The apprehensions and figurations in the play of metaphysical imagining, in the poem and the music, which tell of pain and of hope, of the flesh which is said to taste of ash and of the spirit which is said to have the savour of fire, are always Sabbatarian. They have risen out of an immensity of waiting which is that of man. Without them, how could we be patient?”
- George Steiner, Real Presences, pp. 231f
It’s Friday, but Saturday’s coming?
What a poignant way to capture the paradox in which we are caught! Hanging in the balance between miserable suffering and glorious resurrection. But Sunday’s coming! Hallelujah! Sunday’s coming!
Today it is snowing HARD in Abilene. Last week it was 75 and this coming Tuesday it is forecasted to be around 80, but today it is 30 and snowing hard. Winter has returned. I keep thinking about how when the children figure out what is going on in Narnia they find out that Aslan is not around and it is always winter and never spring. Today is the day Jesus was “missing”. Spring has gone and winter has returned. The warmth of next week will be all the more meaningful now. Blessed Easter!
Amy, thanks for those thoughts. Your comment brought tears to my eyes. Those scenes from Narnia make this all seem real. C.S. Lewis wrote from deep within where the Spirit dwells. Those images are so powerful.
Thank you for the quote. I was very insightful. I was thinking along those lines yesterday and posted about life between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I think there is a lot that can be said about it. As Christians we know what Sunday holds (that is, the future). But some only live in light of Friday, not knowing there is anything more to life than suffering and with no hope of a better life.
Another thing that is interesting to think about is, what was Jesus doing that Saturday? In 1 Peter, Peter references 1 Enoch by saying that Christ proclaimed to spirits in prison from the time of Noah. What was he proclaiming? Not a second chance to human spirits but the declaration of victory to demonic forces that had tried to hard to lead men astray.
Sunday is come. He is risen indeed.
We just saw “Meet the Robinsons” in 3D with my 4 little girls. Oddly enough….the Disney movie captured this idea. It’s the story of an orphan boy who goes into the future, much by accident, and spends a harrowing day with what turns out to be his future adoptive parents, wife, son, and other odd family members. Before he realizes it’s HIS family, he wishes to be a part of it and stay in the future with them, b/c he has no family back in the “present”. It’s what he’s always hoped for. He has to return home, however and live out his life. His whole attitude was changed, however, b/c he’d seen his future & it was good. I sat there & wondered how weird that must feel to live every day knowing what your future was, but not being able to get there as fast as you wanted. How odd to suffer through the day-to-day knowing something better was ahead. Well…DUH….it was his Saturday. We’ve seen our future, too. It’s good. We’ve been adopted. Cold, wet Saturdays are hard to take when you know it’ll be 84 degrees soon. But how much worse would it be to NOT know what the future holds. Thank you, God, for telling us that Sunday came….and is to come. Can’t wait. Sure makes Saturday easier to take.
It snowed in NC Saturday too! Today, Easter, is 54 degrees and sunny. I agree with Carri on Meet the Robinson’s, a very good movie, not just for kids. I have to say that the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is not that bad for me. It is the day my beloved asked me to be his bride 18 years ago.
Your post on Saturday reminded me of the following passage:
62 Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore order the sepulchre to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the sepulchre secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
Saturday was the day that Satan reinforced the the tomb to prevent the resurrection. In so doing, the witness of the resurrection is made even stronger. Sometimes, even in the midst of despair and lament, God is at work setting the stage for the miraculous. Without Saturday we would not have had the witness of those that guarded the tomb or the broken seal. We need to be reminded on Saturday that Sunday is coming; but, to never forget that God is always at work even in the midst of an evil and dying world. I often think about how Enoch walked with God in a world that was so corrupt that God later decided to destroy it with a flood? Learning to live in faith on Saturday is part of the journey of faith.
I find strength in these words to the Ephesians” because Paul compares the power available to us to the power that raised Christ from the dead:
Ephesians 1
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Now, that’s Power!
Hey people, what happens if it snows on Easter Sunday too as it did here yesterday?
Just a thought from Colorado where it can snow in May as well…
I mean, I’m glad it worked out well for all of you and your metaphor this year…
But what if it doesn’t? Sunday still comes for us!!!!
Bradford Stevens had a GREAT line with
“Learning to live in faith on Saturday is part of the journey of faith.”
I think American Christians don’t like to look at the hard, the real parts of the Gospels. We want prosperity, health and wealth.
However as much as we would like to avoid this time, as Bradford says, learning to live in it is part of the journey we have.
I felt this was so important that I blogged about it last Saturday as well.
† Christus resurrexit! Resurrexit vere!
† Christ is Risen, He is risen indeed!
It is a long journey…