It had to be tough, as the Son of God, to recognize that every morning of your life was bringing you one day closer to an event that would be nothing short of horrific.

It’s one thing to view something from a distance and have a vague idea that it could be a difficult circumstance. It’s another thing entirely to be certain of what lies ahead – the inevitable and necessary torment that would have to be endured in order to accomplish what had to be done.

This morning He woke up and, whether He really thought about it or not is speculative, but if He were marking off the days of the calendar, this particular morning He would be looking at Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and…a day that would be known as “Good Friday” centuries later. Three days and a wakeup.

Of course, He knew the “wakeup” wasn’t going to be Him slowly getting up to the sound of birds chirping and the sun gently peeking over the horizon. Friday morning would be an extension of all night spectacle featuring Jewish religious authorities desperately assembling a loosely concocted collection of “facts” in order to convince the Roman governor that their nemesis was worthy of the death penalty. It was going to be exhausting as well as excruciating and it wouldn’t be limited to a manageable timeframe.

Three days.

That’s a common timeframe in Scripture. That was the length of time that Abraham would have to travel in order to get to the place where God had asked that he sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen 22:4). Jonah was in the belly of the earth for three days (Jonah 1:17) and Jesus would be without a pulse for three days (Matt 12:40).

It’s significant that in all three scenarios, you had a huge victory on the other side of some very trying events. But God didn’t spare Abraham the three day journey to the place he would later call the “mountain of the Lord.” Jonah would be able to describe what it was like being inside the belly of a huge fish only after enduring it for three days and Christ’s quoting of Psalm 22:12 – symbolic of the His triumphant conquest of sin – would only be relevant after having quoted verse 1 at the tail end of His having suffered close to 12 hours of non-stop beatings and unimaginable pain.

Romans 8:28 is often quoted by those who want to remind you that “it’s going to be alright.” And they’re right. But that doesn’t mean you’re not going to have to travel down some dirt roads in order to get to the  expressway. While it’s easy to lose heart sometimes and wonder if God’s even listening, that’s a good time to remember “three days and a wake up.” Abraham had to walk for three days pondering the severity of his son on the threshold of losing his life, and it would be his hand that wielded the knife that would do him in. Jonah wasn’t able to secure an abbreviated stay in the innards of said fish nor would Jesus be able to fast forward either the three days that stood between this morning and the trial, nor the three days He would remain in the ground.

Sometimes you just have to endure that time, but you can do so knowing that you have every reason to trust in a positive outcome.

Hebrews 12:3 sums it up well:

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:3)

God’s in charge and aren’t you glad that He is.

Three days and a wakeup…

Good morning!

Click here to read “Two Days and a Wakeup!”