The speaker on today’s ‘Thought For Today’ on Radio 4 said that Saturday in Holy Week is a ‘strange day’ largely because nothing much seems to have happened. Only Matthew tells us of the chief priests and Pharisees going to Pilate to request that a guard be placed on Jesus tomb. Interestingly they remembered Jesus prophecy if not His exact words: ‘After three days I will rise again.‘ They anticipated that the disciples might steal the body and claim He had risen so a guard on the tomb would be welcome. Pilate agreed. A seal was placed on the tomb and a guard posted.
That in itself is a powerful image. The movers and shakers in the religious and political spheres doing their upmost to keep Jesus in the tomb. Now that could keep me going for quite a while but let’s just stay with the idea that nothing much seemed to be happening on Holy Week Saturday. Various myths and legends have emerged to explain the gap between Good Friday and Easter morning. Prominent among them is the idea that Jesus descended to a place between heaven and hell where he preached the message of redemption to righteous souls in waiting. We are in firmer ground, however, when we remember Jesus words to the penitent thief on the Cross. Having previously mocked Jesus along with his fellow thief he now turns to Him: ‘Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And Jesus answers: ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’ (Luke 23: 40-43)
Jesus knew that with the extinguishing of his life on earth, at that moment He would be returned to the Eternal World where His Father and the angels waited to welcome and acclaim Him. Donald Macleod expresses this so well in his book The Crucified Christ:
‘He was clinically dead, his body inanimate and separated from his soul (although still united to his divine person; it is the body of the Son of God that lies in the grave.) But while his body lay inert in the grave, his soul was in paradise, at rest, rejoicing in the approbation of the Father, adored by the angels, acclaimed by the redeemed and at perfect peace with the outcome of his mission.’
This was unfolding beneath the surface of silence, disappointment and fear that was Saturday in Holy Week. God was still in control and at work. This would be revealed in all its fullness when the soul of Jesus would be united to a renewed body on Easter morning and the promise of renewal for the whole of humankind would be proclaimed.
There is a sense in which the whole of humankind is going through a Saturday experience. The Notre Dame fire, climate change protests, political upheaval in so many countries remind us that we are part of a broken world. But beneath the surface God is in control and working out His good purpose for the whole of Creation. ‘When you come into your Kingdom,’ said the thief. That Kingdom has yet to be seen in all its fullness but Easter morning carries the promise that we are moving towards that time when everything that has ever made us cry will be evacuated from human experience. Paul saw Jesus as ‘the firstborn among many brothers.’ (Romans 8: 29) The Risen Christ stands as the archetype of all that God wishes for humanity, renewed in body, mind and spirit. And it is as a renewed humanity that we will enjoy a renewed Creation.
The tomb was sealed and guarded. Nothing much more to expect then. The reality beneath the surface was so different. It is in that reality that we are called to live. We face the brokenness of our time with sorrow and resolution but also in the faith that this is not the end of the human story. ‘Our God is marching on!’
