The Day Before

A few years ago, I was lost. I had a problem with purposefully drinking every weekend to get drunk. I wasn't attending my college classes. I just didn't care. Once I finally admitted to my parents what was going on, I truly realized how much help I needed. I moved home and my new life began.

I started going to counseling a few times a week. I got a job somewhere. I enrolled in a local community college. I was earning back the trust I lost with my parents. I was rebuilding my life.

When I was starting to really improve, my therapist brought up a point I will never forget.

Think of a time when you were starting over. It does not have to be such a dramatic situation like mine. It could be simply graduating from college, or getting married. A situation that the future is brand new and you cannot return to the old way of life. That is what the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday was for the disciples.

They followed Jesus for a long time and heard everything he taught. Jesus told them several times in different ways that he would die, but he would come back. I always wonder if they assume it's just a metaphor and that Jesus would not have to literally die.

Then Good Friday happens. Jesus is gone. Their teacher, their Savior, and their dear friend. Jesus was so full of life just the day before. He broke bread with them hours before his trial. When Jesus is placed in the tomb, how on earth did they feel? I can only imagine it's a mixture of hurt, fear, grief, and maybe a little excitement.

Jesus promised he would come back. How would it be when he did? It was never explained what Jesus would look like when he rose again. Would they recognize him? Would he be a ghost?

The day before Easter is that of confusion. The disciples knew life would be different. Jesus may be coming back, but he did experience death first. Things would never be exactly as it had been before. Their future was brand new and they could not go back to the old way of life.

The situation I went through years ago makes me feel like I can relate to the disciples in this way. At some point in our life, we will be living in a perpetual state of the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. No matter how hard that may be, just remember that the sun will rise on Easter morning. The future will become clear and life will not be so scary.