Welcome to day 40 of our 40 day challenge! Today, we are in Matthew 27

(You can catch up on our Intro, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, Day 32, Day 33, Day 34, Day 35, Day 36, Day 37, Day 38, Day 39 if you missed them)

Matthew 27:57-66

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁷ As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.⁵⁸ Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

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This is the day I struggle to stay in the depths. How I long to rush forward to Sunday with the praise and hallelujahs. The tendency to rush toward faith, skip the dark days in between, and get to the hallelujahs means we miss out on the growth and compassion that only come in the dark. We miss God’s consolation and comfort for ourselves and for others when we rush past the grief and lament when we avoid them and skip to the good part.

Saturday is the day when we need to take the example of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and stay in this place and wait for the Lord.

Sunday is always coming in the life of a believer. But if we don’t rush past the Saturdays and pretend they don’t matter, we’ll grow closer to the Lord, and we will find that there are things we can only receive from Him when we stay and wait for Him in the Saturdays of life.

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you tomorrow for Resurrection Morning, in John 20

♥ Samantha