See bulletin Video Easter is less than 24 hours away! How are you passing the time? Perhaps you have shopping to do in preparation for Easter dinner and a house to clean for guests. Maybe you have a shift at work or outdoor projects to tackle. Maybe it was an exhausting week and now you’re enjoying some downtime. Most of us won’t have trouble filling up our pre-Easter Saturday. But how did the disciples and other followers of Jesus spend their Saturday? For them it was the Sabbath, which meant that ordinary daily activities were put on hold according to God’s Old Testament law. It was a time to “rest” the body and especially to look to the Lord for spiritual rest in His Word. The Sabbath came every week, but none had ever been like this one. Jesus had been crucified. He died. He was buried. The Sabbath gave them time to think and ponder what it all meant. Their thoughts and emotions were all over the map. But what they could keep coming back to was what the Lord had told them. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up” (Jn. 3:14). “I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (Jn. 10:17-18). Their Saturday rest was a time to pray, reflect on Jesus’ words, and anticipate… May the same be true for our Saturday. Let’s make time to pause and meditate on why Jesus died and what it means for us. Even though it happened 2,000 years ago, there is a direct connection to us. He died for you and me. He suffered for our sins, the guilt of the past week and all the other sins of our lifetimes. It is essential to our salvation. Without Jesus’ stepping between us and God’s righteous judgment against sin, we would suffer forever in hell. On Good Friday Jesus paid the penalty for us and all mankind. It is finished! So what is there to do today? May we look in the mirror and humbly confess that it was our sins which caused the Savior so much suffering. May we turn to the Word for reassurance that the death of the God-Man truly has taken away our guilt and made all things right between us and God. Read Isaiah 53: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Is. 53:5). Then wait and anticipate… -Pastor Michael Eichstadt (CLC President)