April 3, 2010 - Holy Saturday

In the cycle of the church calendar, today is called Holy Saturday. It is that waiting time between Christ's crucifixion and His Resurrection. It is in this "in-between" place where many of us live our lives.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. It is a day of hope, of expectation, of "finally, something is happening!" But Jesus makes enemies, doesn't He?

So, on Maundy Thursday, we celebrate the Last Supper, and in some traditions (including my own), the service includes a ritual foot-washing. Maundy is the first word of the phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos" ("A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you"), the statement by Jesus in the Gospel of John (13:34) by which Jesus explained to the Apostles the significance of his action of washing their feet.

Jesus is betrayed by one of His own diciples, Judas Iscariot. He is beaten, mocked, tortured, and finally crucified, a barbaric, painful, lengthy process.

Now, Jesus' body was not left to hang for days, as was sometimes the case. His body was removed from the cross and laid in a tomb that had never yet been used. It was before the Passover, so what preperation was done the body was not completed. The women took note of where He lay, and made plans to return to finish the job of anointing His body for the grave.

Which bring us to Holy Saturday. A day of "in-between." A day of dispair, and in the case of Jesus' followers, not even a day of waiting. Even though Jesus told them He would be raised on the third day, I don't think they "got it." This wasn't a day of waiting for the Resurrection for them; it was a day of mourning and of fear. It was a day of hiding out, jumping at every sudden sound, waiting for the authorities to come after them too.

What great courage it must have taken for the women to leave the relative safety of the hideout in order to go to the graveyard that Easter morning! What courage! They knew they could have been arrested anytime, and perhaps share in Jesus' fate, but they went anyway. What bravery!

But, for us, today is a waiting day. A day of waiting for Easter. A day of waiting for Resurrection. A day of "finally! He's back!"

In the church, Holy Saturday is the day in which "Christ decended to the dead." There is much speculation about what He actually DID. Maybe, just to humanize things a little, He went Home and said, "Hey, Dad, I'm finished." But....He wasn't finished. When He said, "It is finished" on the cross, He didn't mean the entire task was finished, only that portion of it. There was still a lot left to do. Including decending to the dead. But the greatest task, from our worldly point of view, was the Resurrection. But...that's tomorrow. Today we are still in Holy Saturday. Today we wait.

I said in the beginning that for many of us, this is where we live our lives. No longer in an excruciatingly painful place, but not yet having realized the joy of our own lives resurrection, we are in that place where we simply have to wait. Holy Saturday is a long day.

And yet, and yet...for us who carry in our hearts the Joy of Resurrections known, it is a day of hopeful waiting, of joyful waiting perhaps. It is a day when we know a better day is coming. It is a day when we can have faith in knowing that "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again." Hallelujah!

May you have a blessed and restful day of waiting, and a joyous Easter tomorrow!