Light in the Darkness
By Anthony Casperson
4-16-22

Since I upload these blogs on Saturdays, it always puts me in an interesting situation this time of year. Yesterday was Good Friday, where we celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. And tomorrow’s Resurrection Sunday (a.k.a. “Easter”).

But this is the day between.

It’s the day that mourning pervaded the first followers of Jesus because they didn’t understand that Jesus’ death on the cross wasn’t the end. It wasn’t a defeat, but rather God’s upside-down victory. They didn’t know that Resurrection Sunday was coming.

To them, it was the day after tragedy. Not the day between victory and glory.

For those original followers, it was a day of darkness. But for God, it was the day that his glory worked in the world to ready his greatest revelation for humanity. The inhale before his Spirit’s life-giving breath poured forth like a gale. The light reflected before the coming morning.

While I was trying to figure out the angle to look at this most glorious event on the calendar for the followers of Jesus, I happened to look at a literal calendar and noticed something that sparked an idea. See, this particular day between also happens to be the night of the full moon. (Don’t worry, I’m not talking about werewolves in this blog…other than this here reference.)

It’s when the light of the sun reflects fully off of the side of the moon facing the planet. The night when darkness loses its grip on humanity the most. (I know that there can be clouds that make my statement untrue. I’m making a point here. Just go with me.)

That is an amazing image of what was going on that first day between.

Right when the evil of the world, the enemy of all that is good and godly, thought that it had victory and power to spread its darkness among humanity, that’s when the light of the Son—working behind the scenes—reflected brightly onto the world.

It wasn’t yet the time of the fullness of glory. No, that would be the next morning. But the light working in the plan of God still shone upon his creation. He didn’t abandon us to the darkness. He was readying the reveal of the greatest sunrise that could only be a mere reflection before its proper time.

But those in the middle of the darkness have a tendency to forget the light of God when the reflection is all they see.

Many of us stand with those first followers of Jesus on this day between. The cross is past, but the resurrection—the glory that we will one day share in with Jesus—remains ahead of us. Right now, it seems dark and lonely. We feel defeated by the difficulties and troubles in our lives. And that one day seems like it’s so far off as we stand here this day.

I can’t promise that things will get totally better before that future day when Jesus returns. But what I can promise is that the work of God continues. His light is reflected fully onto us even on this day between.

So as we stand here between the cross and the resurrection, let’s look up to the reflection of the light and ready ourselves for the coming glory.