Matthew 27:57-66
As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Here we sit, in the great “in between.” We sit with the knowledge that our Lord has died, we wait in the hope of his resurrection.
This “in between” does not just apply to Holy Week. When Christ was born, the beginning of a new era was ushered in. Since his death and resurrection, we wait in the “in between” for Christ to come again. We wait for a new heaven and a new earth. We wait to be reconciled to God for eternity. We wait...
As we wait, we might as well do something with ourselves! We do indeed have plenty to do. We have justice to seek, we have mercy to administer, we have grace to extend, we have love to share, we have a Gospel to spread.
So, don’t just sit there twiddling your thumbs! Get to work while we wait in the “in between!”
Pray: As we await a glorious Easter celebration, remind us that the joy we experience in worship is just a tiny glimpse of all you have in store for us! While we await your coming, put us to work, and free us for joyful obedience. Amen.
