John 19:38-42 (NRSV)
After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Blog Reflection
There is usually a feeling of quiet associated with Holy Saturday. It is a silence that is different than all other times of the year. A kind of hush with that inner expectation awaiting the resurrection. What exactly will happen? How will we respond to it?
Lent officially ended with the beginning of the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday. We washed feet, we celebrated the Eucharist for the last time until the Great Vigil of Easter. Some of us spent time watching before the Reserved Sacrament.
On Good Friday, we recalled the events of the passion and death of Jesus. We fasted either from food or something else to give ourselves a day of making even more room for God as we meditated on how God showed how much we are loved in the death of Christ on the Cross. We went to the Good Friday Liturgy where we heard the Passion according to John, we prayed the Solemn Collects, venerated the Cross and received Holy Communion from the Reserved Sacrament that was consecrated on Maundy Thursday.
Today, on Holy Saturday, we spend this time with some fasting as we await that moment when Jesus rose from the dead. We will hear those wonderful anthems praising God for the victory of Christ over death, with new life. We will hear from Romans 6 of how our Baptism is a sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ as we are raised with Him to new and unending life.
It is important to keep in mind that the purpose of the Easter Triduum is not to leave what we would have learned and done during Lent behind as if it has not changed us. The death of Jesus and his three days in the tomb, are not a license to begin all of those old habits once again on Easter Monday. As we begin Easter in only a few hours, we are reminded by the resurrection that this is the Season of new life, with a renewed focus on the power of God to save us by the Cross and resurrection. Our human eyes that will not be able to find Jesus in the empty tomb, will challenge us to go forward renewed in our faith, that what God has done on our behalf, has actually changed us from the inside out.
As we await the resurrection, perhaps we might think about what old habits and behaviors we truly want to be buried with Christ today. Could we actually see the end of prejudice and violence so that LGBT people are no longer bullied by Christianists? Would it be possible that a country like Uganda would not hunt down LGBT people to expose them as people to shame? Might it happen that we recognize that women can make their own choices with regards to their reproductive health care? Might we recognize that using male privilege to legislate health care for women is not the way to go? Could we actually bury the need of governments to seek out war and military action when they cannot sit down and settle differences by talking and negotiation. Could our private and public monies actually be used to benefit all people, including the poor, the lonely, the discouraged and those who are disabled or our elderly? If we could only bury with Jesus the need to use race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, language, health status, wealth status, challenge, employment status, immigration status, political party affiliation, as a reason to exclude others because of our own biases, Easter Day will truly be a great day of celebration for everyone.
May today be not the end of our pilgrimage with Christ, but a point of transition by which hearts and minds are actually changed, because God loved us all to the point of giving up God's Son for every one of us.
Prayer
O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the
crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and
rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the
coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life;
who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Holy Saturday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 221).
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