THE HOLY SATURDAY

The Holy Saturday is the name given to the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Some Christians recognize The Holy Saturday, the seventh day of Holy Week, as the day on which Jesus Christ “rested” from His work of providing Salvation to all Mankind.

As Jesus died, He called out with a loud voice: “It is finished!”

… There was no further price to be paid; sin had been atoned for.

After His crucifixion, Jesus Christ was laid in a nearby tomb, and His body remained there the entirety of Holy Saturday (Matthew 27:59-60; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53-54; John 19:39-42).

Churches that celebrate Holy Saturday traditionally do so by observing a day of somber reflection as they contemplate the world of darkness that would exist without the hope of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

Indeed, without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we would be in dire straits and the purpose of our Salvation would have been in vain.

If Jesus Christ had never been raised, “your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

The disciples had scattered when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:50), and they spent the first Holy Saturday hiding for fear of also being arrested (John 20:19).

The day between Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and His resurrection would have been a time of grief and shock as the stunned disciples tried to understand the murder of Jesus Christ, the betrayal of Judas, and the dashing of their hopes.

The only biblical reference to what happened on Holy Saturday is found in Matthew 27:62-66.

After sundown on Friday comes the day of Preparation. The Chief Priests and Pharisees visited Pontius Pilate. This visit was on the Sabbath, since the Jews reckoned the day as starting at sundown.

They asked Pilate for a guard for Jesus’ tomb because they remembered Jesus saying that He would rise again in three (3) days (John 2:19-21) and wanted to do everything they could do to prevent that.

As we know, the Roman guards were inadequate to prevent the resurrection, and the women who returned to the tomb on Sunday morning found it empty.

The Lord had risen – Hallelujah!!!

Moses Durodola

CONVENER, DMC