Darkest Before the Light

Holy Week is the week that marks Jesus’s last few days of ministry on earth before His death and resurrection. There are many memorable moments we remember during this week: Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Morning. Each day of Holy Week played it’s role leading up to the cross and resurrection. But perhaps the most poignant day of all is Good Friday. Despite its name, Good Friday carries a certain grief that highlights the weight of the cross.

When Darkness Seemed to Win

Good Friday makes me think about the moments in our lives that, much like that day, seem dark and hopeless. As Jesus hung on a cross, suffering in order to take away our suffering, the world grew dark. Scientifically, it was impossible for this to have been an eclipse. This event was more than that. It was creation mourning the loss of the Son of God as darkness, for a moment, seemed to have won the battle against the Light of the World. And yet, the darkness that covered the earth didn’t last forever, just like Jesus’s death wasn’t the end.

Much like Good Friday, there may be areas in your life that seem to have been enveloped in darkness, where hope has been lost and faith seems to have died. But the dark moments in our lives don’t last forever, and even when we lose hope, there is a “third day” coming where resurrection and light will burst forth.

No Strangers to Darkness

The disciples weren’t strangers to “dark moments” in their lives. In fact, they had witnessed many in their time following Jesus. They’d experienced storms where they thought they would die, only to have Jesus calm the waves just when they thought all hope was lost. Peter, who’s mother-in-law had been ill with a fever, had seen Jesus swoop in and heal her. Peter, James, and John had all witnessed the grief of Jairus when his twelve-year-old daughter died. They saw how Jesus took her and brought her back to life. The twelve had experienced Lazarus’s death together, first hearing of his illness and later arriving in Bethany four days after his death. They saw the way Mary, Martha, and Jesus mourned. They witnessed the grief. Later, once again, they witnessed Jesus’s miracle working power when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and brought him back to life.

No. The disciples weren’t strangers to darkness. They had seen it in various forms, but they’d always seen it bow to Jesus. So what made the cross so final? The darkness they experienced this day was so penetrating because it seemed to have snuffed out the one source of light in their lives. And if the source could be beat, what hope was there for them?

The disciples faced their darkest moment, and rather than keep on believing that Jesus was the hero of the eleventh-hour, they lost hope. They let the darkness that took the Son of God snuff out the fire that had been growing in their hearts during their three years of living with Jesus.

A Long and Hopeless Saturday

And so Friday bled into Saturday, which turned into a long, gloomy day. They spent it as people without hope spend their days: grieving and stumbling without any true destination, feeling life has lost its meaning and purpose.

A Hopeful Sunday

And yet… even when they’d lost hope and the fire in their hearts had been blown out, Sunday arrived. Darkness couldn’t hold onto the Light of the World any less than the sun could keep from rising that day. Jesus resurrected! Against all odds, and with that same wonder working power He’d shown his disciples time and time again, the Light of the World burst forth even when all hope seemed lost.

The disciples were still grieving, still hopeless, and very much still faithless. But Jesus met them where they were at. He saw Mary weeping in a garden, and turned her mourning into gladness. He then met with ten of His disciples, and turned their confusion and lack of faith into clarity and hope for the future. Later, he again met with the eleven remaining disciples, and turned Thomas’s unbelief into an unshakable faith that would last a lifetime. Jesus encountered two broken and disappointed men on the road to Emmaus, and walking them through the Old Testament, showed them the light once more. He relit the fire in their hearts until their eyes were opened and they recognized him as Jesus, the Light of the world.

Jesus Meets Us Where We Are At

Jesus met all of these people in the midst of their hopelessness. He met them in their grief, unbelief and doubt. He met them in their disappointment. He met them in their darkest hour and turned it into the brightest and most joyful.

This is who He is, and this is what He does. He still meets us today, in the darkness and hopelessness. With wonder working power, He turns things around in the eleventh-hour.

It might seem like Jesus is too late. We might be like Martha, weeping and wondering why Jesus was four day’s late to save Lazarus’s life. Or we might be like Jairus, wondering why Jesus stopped to heal a woman only to arrive too late to heal his daughter. We might find ourselves in the place of the disciples, wondering why Jesus wouldn’t save Himself and why it all had to come to such a dreadful end.

For us, it might look like Jesus was always late. But that is only half the story. In the end, He always showed up, and He always made things right. Maybe we don’t see God working in the way or on the timing we want, but if we read the Bible, all the darkest moments soon turned to the brightest and most hopeful.

If you feel like you’ve been walking through the darkest moment of your life, remember that Jesus hasn’t forgotten you. His Light hasn’t been snuffed out. Even if you have lost your faith, or your hope, He is still powerful enough to turn things around and work out a glorious ending. Darkness may seem to be winning now, but Jesus always has the last word. Good Friday will lead to Easter Morning, even if there is a long Saturday in between.

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” – Psalm 30:5, NLT

“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!” – Psalm 30:11-12, NLT

Thanks for reading, and Happy Easter!
Anna

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Photo by Click and Learn Photography on Unsplash