Saturday of Passion Week – The Sabbath Day

Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples go and steal Him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” —Matthew 27:64-65

The Saturday of Passion Week is commonly very quiet in the church. We gather as a local church for communion on Maundy Thursday, and we gather with several other churches for a community Good Friday service. Then everything screeches to a halt on Holy Saturday as we rest and recover for a full day of Easter activities.

Holy Saturday is a wonderful time for reflection as we sit between the cross of Jesus and His resurrection. It was a time when the disciples were scattered. Their Rabbi was dead, and they hid in fear. There were more questions than answers. Meanwhile, the women made preparations to visit the grave the following day. There had not been adequate time on Friday to properly prepare the body of Jesus for burial. There was more work to do, but they were not allowed to do such work on Saturday, the day of Sabbath rest.

Holy Saturday was also a day of scheming. The chief priests and the Pharisees met with Pilate to conspire against the resurrection. They feared the prophecy of Jesus that He would rise from the dead. Even from the grave, Jesus frustrated the chief priests and Roman authorities.

Pilate ordered a guard of soldiers to the tomb. “Go and make it as secure as you can,” he said.

The lesson of Saturday is for us to trust God in the darkest of days. Holy Saturday must have seemed utterly hopeless to the disciples of Jesus. Their Rabbi was suddenly gone: arrested on a Thursday night, hanging on a cross the next day, and laying in a guarded tomb on Saturday. Their world flipped upside down in an instant. What would they do now?

And yet, the plan and promise of God remained. There are not enough soldiers in any army to hold back the work of the Lord.

You and I are going to have our Saturdays of trouble. We are going to experience trials and suffering and perhaps even persecution, but there is nothing capable to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The purpose of God will always prevail. We may not always see it for ourselves, but we hang on the promise that all things will certainly work together for good for those who love God.

The next time you are enveloped by a Saturday of darkness, remember that Sunday is on the way.

Dear Father in heaven. Your ways are good, and Your purposes will always prevail. Forgive us for times when we may have doubted You. May we hold fast to Your wonderful promises in the Scriptures. May we rest in Your perfect peace as our minds and hearts are continually fixed upon You.

Authored by Pastor Ron Dazell