Holy Saturday: Waiting, Watching and Praying

Today's Scripture Readings

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

Instead of my writing about the events of Holy Saturday on my own, I am going to defer to a short meditations.   The words of this meditation come from the members of the Companions of St. Luke/Order of St. Benedict.

It’s over.  The Man many called “Messiah” has breathed His last.  He did not “save himself” as some witnesses taunted, nor did the Heavenly Host come to rescue Him. Instead, for three agonizing hours, Jesus of Nazareth hung on a cross, suffering a slow and very agonizing and especially disgraceful death.  But, the Sabbath approaches and observant Jews must tend to their rituals—and… 

“…Hey, Nick!  We can’t hang around here too long, you know.  After all, the Sanhedrin condemned this Man, this so-called Pretender and Rabble-Rouser to death…why, if we’re caught here or accused of supporting this…this…blasphemer, why—who knows what will happen to us???  Wasn’t it enough that at least we didn’t vote in the Sanhedrin to condemn this Jesus?”

“After all the precautions we took, Joe, to distance ourselves, to make sure we didn’t follow “too closely” behind, obscuring our faces as we listened to this Man preach.  We sought Him out under the cover of darkness, or from high above in a tree, to hide our insecurities, our inner longings, and our fear while we trying to maintain our standing within the community.  We’ve got a lot to lose, don’t we my friend, among the movers and shakers if we are ‘found out’.”

“And after all our careful maneuverings, now you are concerned about this dead body?  That the Romans would leave it exposed?  Do you think they even would let us have it, after all, He was accused of treason as well as blasphemy??  Are you mad?  Moreover, by touching this body as the Sabbath draws near, we ourselves could be considered ritually unclean!”

“But, wasn’t it Jesus who said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath?  And…whom would Jesus exclude from His table?  Certainly not tax collectors or adulterers, so why should we be made unclean simply for ensuring He gets a decent burial…Okay, let’s go and claim the body and do the best we can…”

In this darkest of days when all hope seems lost, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea, secret followers of the Christ,  go to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus, to bury Him according to Jewish custom, as an observant Jew, not as a thief or criminal.  They had nothing to gain and everything to lose.  As members of the Sanhedrin and the privileged class, they did this at great cost to their position in society and even their well-being. 

 

But at that moment when Jesus cried “It is finished”---it was only just beginning.  For Nicodemus and Joseph had found their courage to proclaim themselves openly as followers, if not yet of Christ risen, still of Christ crucified.  For them Jesus has become their Paschal feast, the fulfillment of God’s saving grace.

 

What, my friend, holds you back from boldly proclaiming, in word and deed, God’s triumph of love over death?

Prayers

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.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.221).

Merciful God, whose servant Joseph of Arimathaea with reverence 

and godly fear prepared the body of our Lord and Savior for burial, 

and laid it in his own tomb: Grant to us, your faithful people, grace

and courage to love and serve Jesus with sincere devotion all the days

of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.  (Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints, p.499).