Silent Saturday

April 16, 2022

Scripture Reading:

John 18:1-19:42

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’

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. –John 19:31-42

All are encouraged to read the entire scripture cited above at some point on this Silent Saturday. How do we respond when facing a series of horrible events, over which we have no control, the damage has been done, our lives will never be the same again, and we are surrounded by a dead calm? For just a few minutes put on the sandals and the cloaks of the first-century participants or witnesses in the death of Jesus and relive this scene with them.  The first sentence in the scripture above tells us that the temple leaders wanted to get rid of the evidence as soon as possible. One influential religious leader, Joseph of Arimathea, seems to suffer some regret from not being able to express his interest in Jesus openly. The only thing left for him to do was give Jesus a decent burial. I doubt that many of Jesus’s disciples slept much that night, running what-ifs through their minds over and over. Apparently only John was present at the crucifixion. Were the others afraid the same punishment might bring their end? Judas, of course, had already committed suicide. All kinds of rumors were spreading. Reports were made of the temple curtains splinting, and tombs being opened. The events of Jesus’s death and resurrection eventually changed the very way history is chronicled, initiating a new time continuum as a result of Jesus’s death and what followed.

As we meditate on these events begin to structure ideas about what happens next. What are the disciples to do? Was their work and calling buried with Jesus? Recall his charges to his disciples then that are still our duties as his disciples today.

Prayer: Lord, we live in a dangerous, divided world today, what are you calling us to do in your name? Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.