Holy Saturday
Today is Holy Saturday. We have accompanied Jesus through His passion and death, and now He is in the tomb. This seems like a time of insignificance- a time when we want to rush through to arrive at the resurrection. However, God shows us that living and learning in this time of waiting is essential for our transformation. As we experience this liminal space and time- standing at the threshold and not knowing what will come next-God invites us to look to Jesus and learn from Him by surrendering completely to God’s time and plan. When we place our trust in God, Jesus will lead us from our tombs to new life.
It is hard to imagine the grief and despair that the apostles and holy women experienced after Jesus death. Many of them had left everything behind- family, livelihoods, possessions- to follow Jesus. As they gathered on the day after Jesus’ death, how did they spend their time? Were they already planning on heading home to return to their old ways? Were they quietly preparing the needed supplies to care for Jesus’ body? Were they sharing about Jesus’ ministry and what they learned and how they hoped to carry this forward? Were they anxious to move on and put behind them the 3 years of ministry they shared with Jesus? Did they reflect on the scriptures and God’s revelation of his love? Did they remember Isaiah’s message: “Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, my love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the Lord who has mercy on you.” (IS 54:10) Were they able to rest, reflect and be transformed by all that they shared with Jesus? Could they sit with the pain that they just experienced and learn from this and allow it to change how they saw the world around them? The apostles and holy women waited. We are unsure how this day was spent, but the next day when they arrived at the empty tomb, these holy men and women were ready to believe that God lives in a new way. Their time in waiting prepared them to be ready to trust in God’s mercy and love despite the overwhelming details of suffering and death. They crossed the threshold from death into a world where new life in Christ became a reality.
In many ways, I believe that we are living in “Holy Saturday” waiting. In the midst of this pandemic, we are surrounded with death, despair, and overwhelming sorrow. Just as the holy people in the time of Jesus, we are called to use this time of waiting to learn, grow and reflect. We are called to believe, “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.” (Rom 6:5) It is difficult not to want to jump ahead many months, and be able to look back and say, “I am so glad that is over.” And yet the reality is that we are still called to wait and trust. This liminal space for us is challenging. We do not know when it will end- when we will be able to cross over the threshold to a world without great fear. The pain that surrounds us is tremendous, and yet God continues to call us to trust in His love and mercy.
What are the ways that we can use our “Holy Saturday” to become a source of resurrection for the time ahead? Keeping our eyes fixed on Christ is essential. When we look away, we will be like St. Peter who begins to sink when he takes his eyes off Jesus as the waves surround him. By reflecting on Jesus and His life, we can learn how we are called to live- in loving service and emptying of self. Jesus focuses on others and attending their needs. We are called to do the same. This care for others takes on a very different appearance in a time of pandemic. Our acts of goodness might be to make a phone call, to donate blood, to mow someone’s yard, to sew masks for others, or to send a note of encouragement. In these small ways, God continues to reveal through us that we are all members of the body of Christ. We need one another and depend on each other whether we are next door, in the next state, or in a country across the world. I believe that God is trying to destroy our sense of focusing only on our needs, and encouraging us to be transformed to a people aware of the needs of all people. Through this death, a new life will arise as we pass over the threshold to a new world where all people from all lands will be seen as equal and loved by God. Although I want to race through this time of waiting until we are “back to normal,” I recognize that our “hardened hearts” may need time to work on these changes. The new life that we are promised when we step into our future comes with our trust in God and God’s amazing grace. The angel at the tomb after Jesus has risen tells us, “Do not be afraid!” I continue to pray for the resurrection of our world into the new day when all people will live as beloved sons and daughters of the risen Christ.
Loving Father, like the holy men and women the day after Jesus’ death, we wait. Despite the pain and suffering that surrounds us, we trust that you are here with us. Send down Your Spirit to give us the grace to become transformed as we suffer with the world. Bring us to new life, so we can live out Your love and mercy for all people. May our lives be signs of your resurrection in all that we do! We pray this in and through Christ our LORD! AMEN.
- Marylynn Herchline