Holy Week

Holy Saturday

Welcome to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast written and produced by the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. Thank you for joining us today. This is Holy Week, a time when Christians everywhere observe the days leading up to the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ. This week, we present a special set of podcasts that day by day, trace the activities and words of Jesus during this time. Again, thank you for joining us on this journey.

Matthew 27:62-66

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Holy Saturday, the day between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, is the day Jesus is in the tomb. Does this “in between” times have anything to tell us? To get at the answer to this question we need to go back to that Saturday and look at what the people who knew Jesus were doing.  

The Gospels have different accounts.  In Matthew, whose scripture we read, the focus is on the Chief Priest and the Pharisees.  They are at Pilate’s house, demanding that a guard be placed at the tomb to prevent the disciples from stealing the body and saying he rose from the dead.  In Luke we have the women who had been with him, even at the foot of the cross, preparing spices so they could finish the embalming process once the Sabbath was over.  In Mark and John there is silence about this day but later in John we are told that the disciples were in hiding behind locked doors, fearful that the authorities who had put Jesus to death would come for them.  

I call all of these “tomb moments.”  It is a time of endings and death.  A time seemingly void of hope and possibilities.  Remember, for these first disciples there was no Easter, just the stark reality that their beloved teacher and friend had been cruelly put to death.

When we pause to reflect, we realize that we all have our tomb moments. These are times of great loss, disappointment and grief. Life, as we know it is no longer a possibility and what is to come is unknown, often unwanted and possibly frightening. This is a time of acute grief. 

The first day after a great loss can be almost worse than the day it happened.  This day you wake up for the first time knowing a void that will never be filled.  Whether that void is due to a death, loss of a job, or the ending of a dream, you know that your life has forever changed and there is no going back.

How do you live during tomb moments? The women highlight one approach in there preparing spices for the embalming. They were focussing on the loss, trying to process it by putting all their mental energy towards funeral preparations. This is a common expression of grief. You know that a new day has dawned but you are not ready to deal with it.  

Others, like the male disciples, can be filled with fear about the unknowns ahead.  We accept the loss, but it leaves us with a jumble of emotions, from anger at the person we love dying, to fear as to what we are going to do and what our future might look like, to helplessness because it all feels so overwhelming. The Pharisees and Chief Priest give us one more approach, proclaiming that new life is an impossibility. And doing everything in their power to resist moving forward in life.  

Yes, we have our tomb moments. We see our actions and feelings mirrored in the lives of those living through these horrific moments. Holy Saturday speaks to such times.  

Remember, the friends of Jesus did not have the reassurance of Easter at this moment, but they were not forsaken.  Jesus had promised that he would send a comforter.  God was with them at this moment. 

What did these friends of Jesus do this Saturday?  I am guessing what most of us do at these moments.  They shared memories of Jesus,  They remembered his words, his miracles, his kindness, and his love.  In spite of everything, there had to be a few smiles amid the tears and perhaps even a laugh or two.  The promised comfort Jesus had promised was at work. 

So when we are facing the tomb of death and other loss know God is with us.  God is doing all that God can do to comfort us and sustain us often through the love and care of others.  We can rest assured that our grief, our fears, and whatever other emotions we are feeling will not last. New life awaits us even if we don’t really want that life at that moment.  And often we are surprised as we walk forward in trust that the new life we receive is so much more than we could ever have hoped for.  We are often surprised by what life still has to offer us, just as those who waited through this dark day would find. 

Let us pray.

Loving God, when we have our own moments looking at the tomb of loss and grief remind us of your comfort.  Give us peace, help us to look to the future in hope knowing that in you new life is always possible.  AMEN.

This devotion was written by Bill Green and read by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.