"(for the day of that sabbath was a high day)" (John 19:31)
IT is a feature of John's Gospel that he frequently combines a historical fact with a hidden spiritual implication. This Sabbath, as he reminds us, was a very special one. Phillip's rendering is: "for that was a particularly important Sabbath". This was true in the matter of the Jewish Calendar. Spiritually, though, it was much more than that, for it was surely the most significant Sabbath in the whole of human history. When He spoke of His impending death, the Lord Jesus invariably singled out "the third day" as the day of resurrection. The second day was not mentioned and is seldom considered by us, yet this was the 'high day' which the Spirit urged John to record in his parenthetical remark. It merits some special attention from all readers of the Gospel.
The outstanding feature of the Sabbath was that it was the day when man was required to "cease from his own works" (Hebrews 4:10). The Lord Jesus, however, made no apology for performing His miracles of mercy on that day, and seems perhaps deliberately to have chosen it for the occasion of some of His greatest works of healing. This was doubtless because He wished to emphasise that these were the acts of God. The powers which He displayed were not the works of Man only, but were the works of God. In this way the real implication of the Sabbath was beautifully expressed; the mighty power of God operated on a basis of pure grace.
When we come to this 'high Sabbath', we are tremendously impressed with the way in which it almost seemed that time stood still. The second day was a day of supernatural silence. Whatever may have been happening in those unseen realms where the Lord Jesus had so positively promised to welcome the penitent thief into God's Paradise, in the realm of things visible there was a complete absence of activity. The tomb was sealed; the guard mounted their watch; the sacred Body lay at rest in that cave where death had never before entered. The sorrowing friends of Jesus waited in sad inactivity for the third day to dawn.
They themselves were helpless. The apostles were stunned in dark despair. Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus had done their best to accord some honour to that revered Body, but they could do no more and were left with their bitter-sweet reflections. The women were eager enough to pay their tribute to the remains of their beloved Lord, but the law did not permit them to proceed any further until that day of silence was over. The first day had been a day of tragedy. The third day was to prove a day of glory. The second day, though, was seemingly a non-day. Yet it was, as John tells us, one of very great importance.
What shall we say of the Lord Jesus? What was His attitude towards that second day? For this we must consult the prophetical psalms. They show that His attitude was a positive one -- faith is always positive -- and yet it is declared to be one of waiting. "My flesh also shall dwell in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption" (Acts 2:26-27). He did not try to rise. He made no effort at all. He waited for that new day, the famous 'third day', when the glory of the Father would raise Him from the dead (Romans 6:4).
This, then, is the meaning of the second day. So far as men are concerned it is the experience of 'hands off', to leave the way clear for the mighty hand of God to show its power. In the verse of Romans 6 which has been quoted we notice that we too are called to walk in this same 'newness of life', and to do it on the basis demonstrated in Christ's resurrection. For us it is not a matter of a day of twenty-four hours, nor of any interval of time as such. The simple principle is one of cessation from all human effort and endeavour in order to give God His opportunity to work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. When man struggles, God holds His hand. When man waits on God and waits for God, the mighty miracle of resurrection is bound to follow.
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