Holy Saturday

A Song for Holy Saturday

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 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. Luke 23:56

While many have debated as to what Jesus was doing on Holy Saturday, few have thought of what His friends were up to. Though some speculate they were fearfully hiding, overwhelmed by sorrow or confusion, among the gospel writers, only Luke, gives us even the smallest detail. They simply rested. We might wonder, since Jesus had told them so many times that He would rise again, why none of them believed. But I think most of us would have to confess that during times of grief, few of us operate along logical pathways. We feel as if we were stumbling around in a fog. Activity, decisions, and even eating all seem impossible tasks at the moment. What we need most is rest and Holy Saturday is the Sabbath which God has given us between the sorrows of Good Friday and the joy of Easter. Holy Saturday is walking through the valley of the shadow, with our Good Shepherd, protecting and guiding us when we are most vulnerable. Holy Saturday is the table of rest and refreshment in the wilderness, where we pause along our journey to the joys of the Father’s House, that waits for us at the end of the path.

I hope you will be blessed by this song which I sang during communion at Life Care Center on Good Friday. My friends in long-term care know better than most of us that our lives are in the hands of our Good Shepherd. And what time better than Easter is there to follow Him as close as His heart, for the way that leads home is the Old Rugged Cross!

Holy Saturday – The Selah of God

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Many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah Psalm 3:2 ESV

WE find the curious word “Selah” sprinkled here and there among the Psalms. Most scholars believe its meaning is similar to that of a rest in a musical composition. At a “Selah” moment, we are to pause and reflect on the melody that came before it and then prepare for what is to follow. In the same way, between the death of Christ on Friday and His resurrection on Sunday morning, is the Selah of Saturday when Jesus rested in the grave. No important activities, no miracles, or signs are mentioned in any of the gospels during those twenty-four hours. While the enemies of Christ were busy posting a guard, sealing the tomb, and worrying about His prophecy of rising from the dead, His followers simply went home and rested on the Sabbath. If, like those early disciples, you have been rocked by events beyond your control, and you are hiding behind closed doors, maybe it is God’s invitation to rest. Maybe He is offering this “Selah” moment, to look back and remember, not just the immediate difficulty, but also the many blessings that God has given in the past. He has given us life, and in Jesus we have hope and a home in Heaven. We have received God’s promises, His presence, and His precious Holy Spirit to comfort us. We have His mercy to forgive our sins and His grace to strengthen us in weakness. And on this quiet Holy Saturday, between the cross and resurrection morning we have this Selah of Saturday, when by faith we put all our hope in God and rest in His arms while we wait for the stone to roll away!

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What if He Simply Rested?

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It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Luke 23:54-55 ESV

We all know the amazing and cruel events of Good Friday and how on Easter, Jesus rose from the dead, but have you ever wondered about that day in between? Regardless of the songs, speculations and very elaborate tales, the Bible does not specifically tell us what occurred on Holy Saturday. So, I would like to ask a simple question. “What if Jesus just rested? What if when He said, “It is finished!” and gave His spirit into his Father’s hands, He rested for a day without sorrow, suffering or demands? What if after three and a half years of ministry, in which He had nowhere to lay his head and scarcely time to eat, that Jesus chose to rest in His Father’s ability to do all that needed to be done for the day. And what if Jesus also rested because it was the Sabbath? What if the same day on which the creation of the heavens and earth was finished that Jesus simply paused to see everything that was good in a new creation just beginning? What if there are times in our own lives when there is nothing more holy that we can do than wholly nothing? What if we could take a day and quietly reflect and rest in the completed work of Jesus Christ? What would our lives be like if for even one day a week we simply paused to rest in all that God has done? What if we rested so that through the eyes of Jesus, we could see His new creation unfolding in lives all around us as well as in the deepest places of our hearts?

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