Recalling the Heartache
Imagine that one day, suddenly and inexplicably, everything that you loved and held sacred was violently taken from you. You sit in shock and silence at first, unable to take in the reality of what has happened, and you begin to wonder what your future will look like now as the landscape of life as you once knew it disappears forever. As the devastation and fear set in, you cry out to God in pain. As you hear the echoes of silence, you wonder if He has abandoned you forever.
Today’s scripture recounts the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple during the Babylonian Exile. In this nightmare come true, the people of Jerusalem lament all they have lost. As the dark clouds of suffering roll in, they cry out to God, holding on to the glimmer of hope that His mercy and faithfulness is never ending. Perhaps you have experienced such a loss, with all its pain and suffering, fear and desolation. Maybe you recognize the wide range of emotions that accompany grief and tragedy in a way that only those who have experienced it can.
So it is for Holy Saturday, the chasm between the cross and the empty tomb. The disciples felt all these emotions as well that day: the shock and disbelief, the fear and doubt, the loneliness and despair. The second day, empty and spent, they fell into that abject silence of suffering, keenly feeling the loneliness of His absence, pondering all that He was and all they had lost. We cannot move immediately from the horror and agony of the cross to the joy and promise of the Resurrection.
On this Saturday, as the body of Christ lay in the tomb, his soul descended into the glooms of Hell where he fully tasted death before He overcame and defeated that darkness with His light. This is a day to quietly reflect, to fast, to pray, to sit in the silence of His suffering, and to identify with our beloved Jesus and all that He has done for us. Without recalling the heartache in between, we can’t fully embrace all the hope and joy His Resurrection offers.
~Debbie Harmon~
