Verses for Vessels

Easter Lights... 11

"Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,
he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.
“My servant will acquit many,
for he carried their sins." - Isaiah 53:11 NET

It's been quiet all Sabbath. It's quiet still.

First, a Sabbath

Have you ever had the pleasure of completing an arduous and strenuous task, that takes both strength and grit just to get through? From things as mundane as finally reading up all your unread mails, or getting to reply the various messages that have piled up on your WhatsApp inbox; to more intense activities like finally mowing the lawns that have been past due for a while, or cleaning up the the house after the kids have gone out to play. There comes with such accomplishments a satisfaction that only the worker can truly enjoy. Now you can review everything in comfort, sit back, and relax. That is precisely what God did in Genesis, after he finished the work of creation he reviewed it all and saw that it was all good. Nothing to add or take away. It was all just perfect and he was very pleased 1. Then he rested. Of course this by no means suggests that he was tired as humans would be. God is not like man 1, and the psalmist made clear that he neither sleeps nor slumbers 2. He rested from his works because there was no more work to be done. All was accomplished. This was the very first Sabbath.

Back to normal...

Today is what the church tradition calls the Holy Saturday, during which Jesus still lay dead in the tomb. The Jews and Romans did not know it yet, but something was coming their way that the world had never seen before. But, in the meantime, we stay with our Prince, in the sepulchre, in silence... in nothingness... in emptiness; for his mortal body was at this time void of all life. Isn't it amazing that the One who with God created all things and by whom are all things, was lying in a rich man's grave asleep in death while in the streets above, many men and women carried about their business like everything was just normal? The Priests and the scribes with the temple officials kept an eye out for possible infringements on the holy command to do no work on the Sabbath. The Romans could well have been lining up the next set of criminals for a similar end to those of that Jew from Galilee and his  pair of bandits. And the disciples? Well, they were by this time so disillusioned they were not quite sure what to make of it all. But it is Sabbath, so everyone stayed put.

Twice at rest?...

It is Sabbath again. Yes... another Sabbath. This one is the weekly Sabbath. The first was the high Sabbath which held once a year at the feast of unleavened bread, immediately after the Passover. You see, it would appear that the Church, in creating the traditional commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, was a bit too eager for Jesus to rise from the dead. Apparently the Son of Man, our Prince, preferred to bide his rest as he already prophesied. It would be three days and three nights 3. By now, anyone who dares to try would have figured out that it is not quite three days and three nights between Friday evening and Sunday morning. Several scholars agree that in that year, two Sabbaths coincided a day from each other: one a high Sabbath for the Feast of unleavened bread, and the other the usual weekly Sabbath 4. I think this makes perfect sense, and would agree with Jesus's prophecy that he would be in the grave for three days and three nights. In any case, he was resting from his well accomplished and glorious work- OUR SALVATION; and no haste of tradition, nor restlessness of the world could rouse the Prince of Peace from ... death.

His Sabbath...

I see in the verse and the story of the day, a need to remind us that when God makes a promise, he will keep his promise. When he speaks a word we can rest on it. He said three days and three nights. But if there were no further Sabbaths, the women would have been there at the end of the second day, which would be contrary. Therefore the divine architect of all things ensured that the Sabbaths coincided... to confirm his rest. I believe that when he rested in Genesis he was pointing to this Saturday. When he commanded Moses in the Law about the Sabbath, he was speaking about this Saturday. When he healed the crippled and the infirmed on their Sabbath he was speaking into his Sabbath as a day when all things would have been accomplished. Jesus did many of his miracles on the Sabbath. It was not because he enjoyed riling up the rulers and the Pharisees; far from it. It would appear that he did so because what had become their tradition was indeed his own future rest. It was he who was the Lord of the Sabbath; it was for him that the Sabbath was created. This was his day of rest. It was his rest.

Come unto me

Have you found your self in a state of rest? Everything seems to have quietened down. Nothing seems to be moving. Everyone seems to be moving away. If God spoke a word to you and it seems buried beneath the difficulties you have faced or are facing, and you are no longer quite sure what to make of it all, perhaps it could be that God is inviting you today into his rest. He understands how much he has accomplished in your life and mine by his own sacrifice. He already knows how well you will do in that job, in that relationship, with that ministry, because of him. We can sit at the tomb for as long as we want but we could never hasten his hand. God makes all things beautiful in his time; and oh what a beauty it would be when it appears. Our duty and privilege is to live in his moment with him. And right now, he is reflecting on his work; he is content to rest... lifeless, until, because he has finished it ALL. In due season he will move, and he will move quickly. You and I have been acquitted from the demands of the Old Covenant because of him. So rest in the Lord. For there remains a rest for the people of God 5.

It's been quiet here... and it still is. But that's ok.

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, I come to you who are the Lord of the Sabbath. I rest my fretful heart in you. Give me faith for the grave situations I may face. Help me to trust that you will do what you said you would do. My eyes are on you Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

References

.1) Genesis 2:2-3;   .2).  Psalm 121:4;   .3). Matthew 12:40;   .4). http://www.eaec.org/bibleanswers/passover-week-two-sabbaths.htm, -31/03/2018;   .5).  Hebrews 4:9