It appeared to be over.  Finished.  The end.  The three years of ministry, miracles, and hope seemed as if they had never happened.  His closest followers huddled in fear in a hidden, out of the way room.  A small group of grief-stricken ladies made their way to the burial site to anoint His lifeless body.  A couple of others dejectedly hung their heads and left town, headed for Emmaus.  As they walked, they talked about their crushed hopes.  On that first day, they had seen the indescribable agony as the blood flowed, the crowds jeered, and the soldiers gambled for His robe.  The second day was one of despair, as death seemed to triumph.  Now it was the third day, and it was over.  The third day?  Over?  They couldn’t have been more wrong!  Why?  Because “He rose again the third day according to the scriptures”!  The disciples’ fear was without foundation, the ladies’ money spent on burial spices was wasted, and the travelers’ hopes were prematurely counted as crushed, because Jesus had risen “as He said.”  The fear, the wasted resources, and the depression could all have been avoided if they had just lived in the light of the promise of that third day.  You see, the third day was not at all what they thought it was.  Jesus had told them otherwise, but they had allowed the weight of circumstances to crush the life out of their hope.  By the way, what day are you focused on today?  The first, a day of suffering and death?  The second, a day of fear and despair?  Or the third, a day of promise fulfilled, of victory won, of hope restored?  On this Resurrection weekend, don’t allow the debris of life’s circumstances to get in the way of the promise, the victory, and the hope in your Risen Savior.  Live in the glorious light of that third day!