Holy Week

1600 years ago Christians began calling the last days of Jesus’ life “Holy Week.” Holy Saturday remembers the day Jesus rested in his tomb.

We know relatively little about what happened during the day Jesus lay buried in his tomb. We know that it was a Sabbath day, a day of rest for faithful Jews. And we know that the religious leaders were afraid. Jesus had claimed he would rise from the dead on the third day (Matthew 27:62-63). They were worried Jesus’ disciples might try to steal his body and pretend he rose from the dead, making their problems worse. So they asked the Roman governor to post guards at Jesus’ tomb to prevent any false resurrections (Matthew 27:64-65). Not much else is known about what happened on this particular Saturday.

And that might be part of this day’s significance. Jesus is dead because nothing is supposed to happen. There are no more miracles to be done, no more Jewish laws to fulfill, no more sin to atone for, and no more powers to fight. On the cross Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Everything Jesus came to do, he did. So with nothing left to accomplish—and like all other good Jews—Jesus rested. At the very least, this means we can rest too. If Jesus rested knowing there was nothing left to do in order to save his people, we can rest knowing that Jesus has done everything to make us his people.

One of Jesus’ ancestors, King David, wrote: “...my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your faithful one see decay” (Psalm 16:9-10). God had once promised David that his dynasty would last forever, and even after he rested in death, God would raise one of his sons to rule God’s people forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13). David was confident that God would preserve, protect, and provide for his dynasty even through and beyond death. He knew that his death would not be the end of his dynasty or God’s promises.

Holy Saturday is a day of mourning, but not a day without hope. Jesus' day in the tomb reminds us that we will all know death. We will watch the death of our loved ones. Eventually, we will all fall asleep one last time. But Holy Saturday is good news because Jesus announces that death is never more than a nap. In Jesus, death is a day of rest before the dawn of a new creation and a much needed break before a new era of renewed and resurrection life.

So I pray that on this Holy Saturday you would accept that Jesus' death proves the depths of God’s promises. There is nothing you can do to add to them because God can resurrect us even from our graves.