Holy Saturday

Memorize: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:5,6


Joseph                 Jesus
Genesis 37:28                        Matthew 26:15


Similarities and differences?

I have no doubt that the Sabbath which began the day Jesus was crucified was the worst Sabbath the disciples had ever known.

It was supposed to be a day of worship and celebration. And the Passover Sabbath was especially so – focusing on the goodness and deliverance of God and on His faithfulness to His people when they were slaves in Egypt. But how could Jesus’ disciples celebrate? How could they praise God for His goodness and faithfulness, when they had just witnessed the death of the one in whom they had put their trust – the one they believed was the Messiah?   The ancient church titled today as; "Holy Saturday".  Holy Saturday commemorates the day that Jesus Christ lay in the tomb after his death, according to the Christian bible. It is the day after Good Friday and the day before Easter Sunday.

Hopelessness, despair, and shame are not usually made a big part of the Easter story.  But there it is Holy Saturday!  Joseph was thrown in a well as good as dead and Jesus in the well of a tomb.  Joseph sold to Ishmaelites as a slave and Jesus betrayed for the price of a slave by His disciple Judas.  We focus on Sunday as we should, but let us not forget Saturday.  Let us now forget you must go through hopelessness to be resurrected.

I think the main reason is that we lack the courage to live authentic lives. We are afraid to feel. We are afraid to look at the reality of life, in all of its occasional harshness and cruelty. We would rather clog our existence with trivial distractions, fill every waking moment with noise, keep busy and distracted and exhausted in the vain hope that if we just ignore the reality of the pain in our lives it will somehow vanish. We go to great lengths to hide, to deny, to pretend, to choose to ignore the issues that are destroying us. And that choice to ignore handicaps our ability to confront, to change, and to live through the midst of the difficulty. Brene Brown calls this numbing.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  As the Prayer of St. Frank states; it is in the dying we live.  Embrace, life's betrayals, dark tombs, and hopeless so we can be resurrected.

Rescue

Memorize: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:5,6

Joseph         Jesus

Genesis 37:18                         Matthew 27:1

Similarities and differences?

Imago dei, is why we crave belonging and fear rejection.   Hannah 

Anderson in the book "Made for more" explains it this way:" 

When God created us in His image, He established a relationship 

with us that the rest of creation does not share....Apart from 

Him, you cannot be fully human, apart from Him, you cannot be 

fully yourself. . . In order to know yourself and exist as you were 

meant to exist, you must live in dependent communion with Him 

and be in a loving relationship with others.  Our gut knows we were 

made to belong, first to our Creator, and then to the men and 

women who share planet earth.  Yet, we have a problem, the 

curse of sin has un-plugged us from our God.   The source of our 

worth and the cause of our rejection.  

So, if you do not talk about-(Pause) SIN, bitterness, curse, or that 

we are children of God-then practicing shame resilience is like 

playing music on the Titanic.  It may help you to feel better 

temporarily, but the ship is still sinking, and we still need 

rescued.

And the only one can rescue us from sin and bitterness-Jesus!

Jesus as king!

Memorize: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:5,6

Joseph                 Jesus

Genesis 37:8                         Luke 19:11-27

Similarities and differences?

Christ uses the Parable of the Ten Minas, to teach about the coming kingdom of God on earth. The occasion of the parable is Jesus’ final trip to Jerusalem. Many people in the crowd along the road believed that He was going to Jerusalem in order to establish His earthly kingdom immediately. (Of course, He was going to Jerusalem in order to die, as He had stated in Luke 18:33.) Jesus used this parable to dispel any hopeful rumors that the time of the kingdom had arrived.

But this parable has a past for all students of the Old Testament.  This is a "Readers Digest version" or Joseph dream and fulfillment of his brothers bowing down to him.  Notice, just like the brothers hated the Fathers love for Joseph, the crowd would cry; "Crucify him!  Crucify him!"  God's Kingdom will not be stopped!  The question becomes will we be counted with the wicked servant or the good and faithful servant?

The minas in the parable, I believe, are representative of resources God gives us to do the work of the Kingdom on Earth.   Through our thoughts, actions, and prayers the Kingdom is being established.  Our life just like Joseph's is to establish, Jesus as our king!

Facing Difficulty

Memorize: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:5,6

Joseph              Jesus

Genesis 37:4,5             John 15:18-24

Similarities and differences?

If you know that you’re going to face a difficult situation, it’s helpful to have some idea in advance of what you’ll be in for. I’ve told you before about a funny event that happened when I was in Coast Guard boot camp. A guy showed up for boot camp with his water skis and fishing pole because a recruiter had told him that boot camp was on an island (true) and that you could water ski and fish in the estuary surrounding the island (true, if “you” is understood to mean, “a person technically could do those things”). But if “you” meant “you personally,” it was about the furthest thing imaginable from the truth!

The recruiter conveniently failed to tell this naïve recruit that the first day of boot camp, they issued your uniform and made you ship home all of your civilian clothes, including your underwear, along with your comb, shampoo, and all toiletries, except for a razor and shaving cream. You wouldn’t need your comb and shampoo after they gave you the boot camp haircut, which came next, because you would have no hair! Also, they controlled your life all day and all night. If they wanted to wake up everyone at 2 a.m. and have you march or stand in formation in the cold, they could do that. For the next nine weeks, you were not in control of your life—they were! If that recruit had been told anything close to the truth, he might not have signed up. (I joined because it was better than being drafted and sent to Viet Nam.) But for sure, he wouldn’t have shown up with his water skis and fishing pole!

The problem is, some Christian “recruiters” (also called, “evangelists”) entice you to sign up by describing all the wonderful benefits that you’re going to receive: “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!” That sounds pretty good! And, Jesus promises an abundant life to all who follow Him! “Yeah, I could use more abundance in my life!” And so you sign up for the program, not realizing that while there are many benefits in following Jesus, there are also many trials and persecutions (Mark 10:28-30).

Jesus knew that after He left the disciples to return to heaven, they would face some difficult opposition from the world. Maybe, because He had just told them that they would do even “greater works” than He did (John 14:12), they were envisioning receptive crowds and smooth sailing ahead. But the reality was, they would face some severe persecution, not just from the pagan world, but also from the religious crowd. The Lord wanted them to know what to expect from the world and how to respond to the hostility that they would experience. His message is:

While the world hates believers, we should testify to the world of the truth about Jesus Christ.

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-83-what-expect-world-john-1518-27  Author: Steven J. Cole served as the pastor of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship from May1992 through his retirement in December 2018.

Love the Father

Love the Father

Memorize: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:5,6

Joseph             Jesus

Genesis 37:3             Matthew 3:17

Similarities and differences?

Oh, the Fathers love for both Joseph and Jesus.  How do we duplicate such grandiose love?  How do we in our own family show such love?

The greatest stumbling block for children in worship is that their parents do not cherish the hour. Children can feel the difference between duty and delight. Therefore, the first and most important job of a parent is to fall in love with the worship of God. You can't impart what you don't possess.

John and Noel Piper

The Family: Together in God's Presence,

His-story

His-story

Memorize: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:5,6

Joseph             Jesus

Genesis  42:7           Zechariah 12:10

Similarities & Differences

If you look into history you will see the shadow of Christ, when Jacobs son's son encounter Joseph in Egypt. 900 hundred years later Zechariah would prophecy; "They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son." Zechariah 12:10  About, 530 years later the House of David would welcome him as king and just as quickly call for his crucifixion.

History is so obviously His-story, that in turn becomes our story.

Eventually, all people will realize that Jesus, the man who was pierced and killed, is indeed the Messiah. There was an awakening, with sorrow for sin and genuine revival. This revival will continue till; "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place  and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:9-11.  That is how his-story will end and a new story will begin.

Lies

Lies

Memorize: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:5,6

Joseph           Jesus

Genesis  39: 19-20 Mark 14:56

Similarities & Differences

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

Both Joseph and Jesus were falsely accused.  Another word for lying. Scripture also states the devil is an angel of light.  2 Corinthians 11:4.  The accusers were men and women, they were upholders of light in their societies and yes pawn of Satan in the same breath.

It is a good reminder isn't it, that truth may not be the majority view, the truth may not be held by the pillars of society and partials truths is used by evil.  There is One who is True.  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6