Tuesday, April 15, 2025
It was the Saturday after Jesus was crucified and laid in the tomb. There is nothing in scripture about this day but the assumption is that they disciples were in the upper room together, retreating after the burial of Jesus. What were they thinking? What were they feeling? Sunday Pastor Jim talked about how they were most likely feeling fear. There were probably some other emotions that waxed and waned during the time they waited in that room until they felt it was safe enough to go. Were they sad? Angry? Was their faith shaken to the core?
The disciples had been with Jesus for so long that they were family. They were devastated and confused and sad during the last supper when Jesus said he would be leaving. Then in the garden they were shocked as the events unfolded. It seemed like everything was unraveling around them, especially finding out that one of their own betrayed Jesus and then took his own life. The events of Thursday night into Friday – the secret meetings, the trials, the horrible way Jesus was beaten and crucified was too much and now here they were, no clue about what to do now.
Jesus had told the disciples that he would die and rise again in 3 days - From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. Matthew 16:21 Were they remembering this as they waited? If they remembered did they have the faith to believe? They were struggling in their belief. On Sunday morning there were women at he tomb to take the spices they had prepared for Jesus’ body, but they found the tomb empty. Jesus appeared to them and they went immediately to the disciples to tell them that Jesus had risen – but they did not believe them. Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. Luke 24:9-11 CSB
A Crisis of Faith
The disciples did not expect Jesus to rise again as he told them he would. In that room on Saturday they must have felt like their worlds had caved in. Everything they had been living and breathing for the past several years was gone now. Did they wonder why God would do this? Why would he allow this?
Faith is the essence of a believer’s existence. It is the way we come to know God and the way we grow in our spiritual strength and knowledge of God. Faith s the way we continue to follow him. However, faith is not always easy. A faith test is when our concept of God and the reality of our lives conflict and we can’t understand why something is happening. The disciples were most likely struggling with their concept of God and the reality of the past 24 hours. Even though they had walked and talked and lived with Jesus all this time, they were human. We may have walked and talked and lived (not literally like the disciples) for a long time but our faith can be tested as well. In these times we must remember what we have known about Jesus and who we know Jesus is.
When is the last time your faith was shaken? Have you been completely thrown off balance by circumstances that you couldn’t understand how God would allow? Have you felt abandoned or forgotten by God? Sometimes when the walls start to come down so does our faith and then Jesus comes walking in with the nail scars in his hands and we realize how weak our faith can be. These tests strengthen our faith.
The next time your faith is shaken to the core, remember the truth about who Jesus is – he is the resurrected King of Kings. He came out of the grave so that we could have faith in him for all time.
