Holy Saturday

8 Days

Day 7

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As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Matthew 27:57-66

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6:5

“Take a guard,” he said, “make the tomb as secure as you know how.”

Imagine thinking it would make a difference. Of course, Pilate didn’t know what we know now. Even in his wildest imagination, this executor of Roman authority could never have seen all of this coming. Why? Because Pilate’s concern was protecting the tomb from the outside, while all along Heaven and Hell were colliding within it.

Of course, some of us are still stacking guards outside of the tomb, aren’t we? In spite of our faith, we hide things away from the resurrection power of God. We cram our little caves full of regrets, secrets we believe to be too difficult for God to redeem or shame so dark as to blot out His resurrecting light. We offer everything to Him except what we keep for ourselves.

And we shake our heads at Pontius Pilate.

What a beautiful invitation Holy Saturday is, and yet how seldom do we accept it? In our earnest eagerness to celebrate the empty tomb, we fly so swiftly by this opportunity to stop and reflect on the meaning of an inhabited one. There his body lay, broken for you. Today need not be a day of great sorrow, for unlike the Apostles, we know how the story ends, but it can be a day of great surrender. What remains in you that needs to be handed over? What needs to die in order for you to live?

It was our sin and God’s plan that led Christ to the Cross. It was his power and his authority that ruptured the darkness and resurrected Him to everlasting life. But on this Holy day, we must ask ourselves the question: “How am I still working to secure the tomb and keep the power of resurrection inside?”

Sunday’s coming. Will you experience the fullness of that freedom when it does?

Call back your guards. Take a deep breath, He shall soon do the same.

Prayer

Father, here in the quiet day between death and new life set my heart free from all anxieties I may be holding about what comes next. Remind me that if you can conquer the grave, you can surely handle anything heading my direction. Bring to mind your faithfulness in the past, and calm my heart with your promise of faithfulness in the future. In my waiting, Lord, I will wait on and with you. Amen.

Scripture References

28After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

29As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,

“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

32Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.

33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

35They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.

36As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

“I tell you,”

he replied,

“if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

12Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

“It is written,”

he said to them,

“ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’

but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’

”

14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.

15But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

16“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,”

replied Jesus,

“have you never read,

“ ‘From the lips of children and infants

you, Lord, have called forth your praise’

?”

17And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

18Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.

19Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it,

“May you never bear fruit again!”

Immediately the tree withered.

20When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

21Jesus replied,

“Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

3Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,

5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.”

6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,”

Jesus replied.

“It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.

You will always have the poor among you,

but you will not always have me.”

20Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.

21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”

22Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23Jesus replied,

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

29The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30Jesus said,

“This voice was for your benefit, not mine.

Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

And I, when I am lifted up

from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

33He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

34The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say,

‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’

? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

35Then Jesus told them,

“You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going.

Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”

When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

1It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7Jesus replied,

“You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered,

“Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10Jesus answered,

“Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.

“Do you understand what I have done for you?”

he asked them.

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God

; believe also in me.

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6Jesus answered,

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you really know me, you will know

my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,

“Take and eat; this is my body.”

27Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying,

“Drink from it, all of you.

This is my blood of the

covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe

3and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

4Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

5When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

6As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,

9and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.

10“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

11Jesus answered,

“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).

14It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

17Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).

18There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read:

jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews.

20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.

21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

24“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them

and cast lots for my garment.”

So this is what the soldiers did.

25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her,

“Woman,

here is your son,”

27and to the disciple,

“Here is your mother.”

From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

28Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,

“I am thirsty.”

29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

30When he had received the drink, Jesus said,

“It is finished.”

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

16Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

57As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.

58Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

59Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

60and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.

63“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said,

‘After three days I will rise again.’

64So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

65“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”

66So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

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