When God Is Silent: Hope Between the Cross and the Tomb

Jesus had given up His spirit. The earth shook. The temple veil was torn. Everything seemed to be over.

The crosses now stood empty. His body had been taken down. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus prepared His burial (John 19:38–42). The women watched from a distance, mourning in silence (Matthew 27:61). Golgotha was still — and so was the sky.

What happens when heaven goes quiet?

The Saturday that followed the crucifixion was a day of deep silence. The disciples were hidden, confused, maybe even afraid. The Son of the living God was dead. Now what?

That moment reflects something many of us know well. We receive a promise. We feel God move. But when pain arrives and heaven goes quiet, we begin to doubt what we once heard. We forget what He said when the skies were open — and we try to take matters into our own hands.

But silence is not absence. It is the soil where faith grows. The Word God gave doesn’t expire when He goes quiet. It remains alive, even when we see no fruit.

God is working even when we don’t see

On that Saturday, while the disciples trembled in hiding, God’s eternal plan was still unfolding. The body lay in the tomb, but the promise was not buried. The sacrifice had been accepted. Heaven was preparing the third day.

“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” — John 12:24

Don’t rush the silence

Silence has a purpose. It teaches us to trust. To believe without seeing. To hold on to the Word even when everything else says it’s over.

Wait on the Lord — not passively, but with active faith. The cross was only the beginning. The stone is about to be rolled away.