The Second Day

The Second Day

By Apostle Felix

Let me make this clear: A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops into the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces a great harvest of wheat—all because one grain died. John 12: 24

Between the crucifixion and the resurrection, Jesus was in the tomb, buried and off a public eye. For the religious group, it was a moment of victory but for the disciples it was a sorrowful moment. Jesus Christ’s death produced different reactions from people. Some were happy and some sad. The religious people even went to great lengths of securing the tomb by posting the Roman soldiers, so that their claims of Jesus could be sealed. They had rejected Jesus’ claims of being the Messiah and that He will rise from the dead on the third.

They really wanted to make sure that Jesus remained in the tomb, forever doomed. The second day of Christ’s day was filled with anxiety and panic from both parties, the religious folks and the disciples. The religious folks’s fear was the ‘if He resurrect from the dead.’ The thought of Jesus resurrecting from the dead was their worst nightmare. The resurrection was going to change the religious script. For the disciples, their anxiety had to do with the disappointment of losing such a great man and the lost hope they had for the restoration of Israel as a nation.

The disciples’ dreams and hopes were shattered upon Jesus’s death. They could not just believe that one who claimed to be the Messiah could die like a criminal. It was such a shameful thing for them. It was a terrible defeat. They had no other option but to go back to their trades they had abandoned for the sake of following Jesus. They had found  something that had given them honour and dignity but it was abruptly taken away from them. Peter had even tried to stop Jesus from talking about death. Peter called it a negative talk.

Peter took him aside to correct him privately. He reprimanded Jesus over and over, saying to him, “God forbid, Master! Spare yourself. You must never let this happen to you!” Matthew 16: 22

The second day of Jesus’ death was such a gloomy day for the disciples. They were reminiscing over the days when the ministry with Jesus was at it’s peak. How exciting it was. How the dead were raised, the sick were healed, the demons were cast out of people, and the multitudes that followed them around as Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom. Now, it was all quiet because Jesus is in the tomb.

For just like Jonah was in the belly of the huge sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Matthew 12: 40

Jesus’s death had purpose, to redeem man from sin. He came to die for the sins of the world and buried for three days. The scriptures had to fulfilled. Jonah in the berry of the fish was symbolic of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. On the third day, Jonah was vomited out and went out to preach and many turned to God. Jesus was in the womb of the earth, buried like a seed but when He rose from the dead many were made sons of God, the righteousness of God.

From the womb of Mary, Jesus was the only Son of God, but from the grave’s womb, there are many sons and daughters. It may look like you are losing out. Hold on! It may not be so. It’s the second day, the third day is coming. The day of life, fruitfulness, multiplication and dominion. Do not give up, not matter how gloomy it looks like. A seed has to be buried and die.