Saturday of Holy Week is – in my mind – associated with silence. For the disciples this must have felt horrible. Their friend and teacher, the one they believed in as the Messiah, was dead.

I don’t know what they went through that day, but I can imagine it was not good. I imagine them feeling like the grief was crushing them. After all, it wasn’t just the death of their beloved teacher (which would have been bad enough) it was also the death of their hope in him…their hope of heaven and new life and the Kingdom of God.

I imagine that they must have been totally bewildered – wondering how all of the miraculous power, the paradigm-shifting teaching, and the deep love they had witnessed in Jesus, could end so horrifically. They must have wondered how it could have ended at all.

When I am feeling shocked, bewildered and frightened about the future, I have certain passages of the Bible that I turn to…words that help me remember to trust that God is in charge and that and that I am safe in Him.

So for this Holy Saturday, I am sharing one of my favorite Old Testament verses, which may have brought some comfort to the disciples, if they repeated it to themselves. I have used this verse before on my blog, but as far as I am concerned, it’s a classic that bears repeating.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT