Divine Dining April 4, 2026 Devotionals

LUKE 23:50-56 | ⁵⁰ Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph who, though a member of the council, ⁵¹ had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. ⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of    Jesus. ⁵³ Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. ⁵⁴ It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was       beginning. ⁵⁵ The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Saturday is the day between. The day between trauma and restoration, between sorrow and joy. It is the day when the earth has gone silent. When the shouts of the crowd are over, the jeers no longer echo. The spear has struck, the blood has flowed, the heart has stopped. The borrowed grave has been opened and filled with Jesus’ lifeless body.

Saturday is the day when the present tense becomes the past. When the eyes that saw you shut, whom the hand that held you stiffens. When the voice that called you goes silent. When the face that expressed love is frozen. Saturday is when creation gives way to destruction, the possible falls before the inevitable, the daylight turns to darkness. It is the day when dreams die, when hopes are shattered, when bitter loss overwhelms.

God understands Saturday, first hand.

Have you gone through Saturday?

Gracious God,

Grant us hope on our Saturdays. Give us a sense of Your new beginnings in our end days. Help us remember that nothing in creation can separate us from You.

Amen.