the day before The Day

the day before The Day

Posted on April 7th, 2012 by Jeff McDonald

Big day, tomorrow … and not just for all Christians, but for all peoples … that’s what I believe.

“We are the Easter people,” Pastor Jim Miles of First Prez-Fort Stockton reminds us ….. and that is what we affirm tomorrow, the day for which we have prepared over the past six weeks, the day for which we live at all times. A promise was made on a joyful, star-lit night, in a stable in Bethlehem … but that promise was kept on a bloody, storm-darkened day, on a hill outside of Jerusalem.

Big day tomorrow, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ … big day … THE day, really. But I find myself wondering what it was like the day before The Day … what was it like during those long hours that passed between Christ’s crucifixion and his resuurection? I can’t help but think it’s easier for us, two-thousand years later, with the benefit of hindsight. But back then … right then, right there? What was it like for the followers of Jesus on THAT very first day before The Day?

I’ve always felt a little sorry for Peter, one of the first (and perhaps the greatest) of Jesus’ disciples. How many times have I listened to some discussion in Sunday school that included talking some smack about Peter and his shortcomings … it’s especially pronouced now, as we are reminded for the umpteenth time of his denial of Jesus outside the house where Christ was being held. What must it have been like – that day before The Day – for Peter?

Of course, that was Peter before The Day, and before Pentecost. The man that emerges from all that is someone and something else entirely. There is still a growing, learning, developing spirit and awareness in him … but there is no longer any doubt, or any denial.

But before that? I can only imagine … because I know, now, and I believe …

He is risen … Christ is risen, indeed … Alleluia! Amen!

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Jeff McDonald

There's a saying around here, something like, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" That's me. I'm a 'dang Yankee from back-east' who settled in the Lone Star State after some extended stays in the eastern U.S., and New Mexico. I worked as an archaeologist for a few years before dusting off my second major in English, and embarking on a 25-year career in journalism. Since then, I've embraced the dark side of the force, and now work in PR for a community college in Midland, Texas.