Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday is a day of stillness. After the whirlwind of events over the last days, today it all stops. No more coming; no more going. It’s as if a great pause button has been pressed. Nothing happens. Jesus is in the tomb.

For the Jewish faith into which Jesus was born, Saturdays were always a day of rest, called the Sabbath. 

Christians have kept this tradition of resting one day of the week, but we have moved that day to Sunday (hint: we moved it because of what is going to happen tomorrow…).

Whether you take your day of rest on Saturday or Sunday, keeping the Sabbath is a way to honor God. 

We stop because we remember that even God rested on the seventh day after creating the Heavens and the Earth. Made in God’s image, we follow our Creator in stopping after all the labors of the week. Simply be.

How will you keep the Sabbath today?

In the stillness, remember Jesus.

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Conqueror

Holy Saturday is also a day of contradictions. Jesus, who had promised his disciples, “I am the Life,” now lies cold in the tomb. 

But how can the One who is “Life” die? 

Imagine the questions his disciples must have been asking. Is he really dead? He promised to save us, but he couldn’t even save himself. What does that mean? Does it mean he isn’t the Messiah after all? 

For the whole of Saturday, it must have looked like Jesus was not the One who would conquer after all. It actually looked like Jesus had been conquered. 

Now, we know better. We know better because we know what’s coming next.  We know that Jesus is indeed our “Conqueror” because he will overcome death. 

But first, Jesus has to experience death. He has to experience the fullness of death. Just as he was born, fully human, so too he has to die, fully human. 

Jesus goes down into the darkness of death to show us that there is nowhere that is not filled with God’s love. As a seed waits in the darkness of the soil, life waits to spring up anew.

What parts of you are waiting for new life?