Embracing the Shadow

There's something deeply human about wanting to rush past pain and hurry to celebration. We skip to the last chapter of a book to see how it ends. We fast-forward through difficult scenes in movies. And in our faith journey, we sometimes find ourselves racing from Palm Sunday straight to Easter morning, missing the profound darkness that makes resurrection light so brilliant.

As I mentioned this past Sunday, "Let's not skip right by Good Friday on our way to celebrate Easter this week. Easter's coming, and it's the best thing we can celebrate as Christ followers. But let's not rush past Good Friday."

The sorrow of the cross wasn't just an unfortunate detour on the way to glory — it was the path Jesus deliberately chose. He didn't "get put to death." He laid down His life. And that distinction changes everything about how we approach these final days of Holy Week.

Entering the Shadows

The journey from Good Friday through Holy Saturday offers us a unique spiritual opportunity that we don't get any other time of year. It's an invitation to sit with uncomfortable truths: our own brokenness, the weight of our sin, and the breathtaking cost of our redemption.

Here are some meaningful ways to enter into this sacred space of waiting and remembering:

1. Practice Holy Saturday Silence

In our noise-filled world, silence has become almost foreign. Yet in the Christian tradition, Holy Saturday has long been observed as a day of quiet waiting. A day of remembering that the disciples didn't yet know Sunday was coming.

Choose a period of time on Saturday (perhaps an hour, perhaps longer if possible) to disconnect completely. Turn off phones, computers, and all devices. If you live with others, invite them to join you or explain that you'll be unavailable during this time.

Use this silence to imagine yourself in the disciples' place, living in the aftermath of Friday with no knowledge of Sunday's miracle. Journal about questions like: How would I have felt watching Jesus die? What would it be like to believe all hope was lost? What parts of my life feel like they're still waiting in Holy Saturday, not yet touched by resurrection?

2. Write a Letter at the Foot of the Cross

On Good Friday, write an honest letter to Jesus as if you were sitting at the foot of His cross. Don't clean it up or make it pretty. Pour out your grief, your questions, your struggles, and your gratitude for His sacrifice.

Write about the areas where you still struggle to surrender, the parts of your life where you try to be your own savior. Acknowledge the ways you've chosen self-protection over self-sacrifice. Then place this letter somewhere private — perhaps folded inside your Bible at Isaiah 53.

On Easter morning, write a response letter, this time from the perspective of standing at the empty tomb. How does resurrection change how you see those same struggles? What is Jesus saying back to you from His place of victory?

3. Fast from Resolution

We love resolution. Happy endings. Problems solved neatly before the credits roll. But Holy Saturday asks us to sit in the discomfort of the unresolved. The story paused at its darkest moment.

Consider fasting from "fixing" situations in your life from Good Friday through Saturday. Resist the urge to send that clarifying text, to solve that problem, to clean up that messy relationship. Instead, pray about those situations and wait in the tension.

This practice can teach us to trust God even when we can't see how He's working, just as the disciples had to live through a Sabbath with their Lord in the tomb, not knowing that the greatest work of all was happening in the darkness.

Preparing for Easter Morning

As you engage with these practices, remember that the goal isn't to manufacture sadness or wallow in grief. Rather, it's to create space for honest engagement with the cost of our redemption. By fully embracing both the sorrow of the cross and the silence of the tomb, we prepare our hearts to experience resurrection joy in all its fullness.

When we've truly sat in Friday's darkness and Saturday's silence, imagine how much more glorious Sunday morning will be. The light shines brightest against the backdrop of darkness. The joy rings purest when it answers a heart that has known real sorrow.

As we come to the last days of this Holy Week, let's resist the urge to rush. Let's walk the whole journey with Jesus — through celebration, sacrifice, sorrow, silence, and finally, to resurrection. As we do, we'll discover that the Easter celebration we've been so eager to reach becomes infinitely more meaningful because we've allowed ourselves to experience the full story of our salvation.

"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." (Romans 6:5)

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday morning at our Sunrise Service, where we will celebrate our Risen Savior!

Pastor Charlie