Faith Matters 37: For The Gardner News, April 7, 2007
Pausing on Holy Saturday
For those who walk with Jesus through the events of Holy Week, the week before his death, the path that leads to Easter is heartbreaking and humbling. The week begins with enthusiastic crowds welcoming him to Jerusalem, hailing him as the Messiah who will redeem Israel and free them from Roman oppression. The crowds go wild in a first century version of a ticker-tape parade, waving palm branches and laying down their cloaks so that not even the hooves of Jesus’ colt will be get soiled. But Jesus understands that a long week stretches out ahead of him: there is public work to do in the Temple; there are important lessons to teach his disciples while there is still time; and there is the final work that God has set for him to accomplish.
All four gospels give us glimpses of the very human moments between Jesus and his followers. He celebrates the Passover with them, gathering them at table to tell them and to show them what is most important, that they should love one another as he has loved them. And knowing that actions speak more powerfully than words, he kneels to wash their feet, breaks bread and pours out wine, saying words whose true meaning will only make sense to them on the other side of Easter. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays that God might spare him what lies in store, but ultimately he submits to God’s will for him. Then comes betrayal, a sham trial, torture, humiliation, and finally an agonizing death on the cross.
As the week unfolds we not only see Jesus, but we see ourselves mirrored in the actions of Jesus’ followers. We too start with our hopes pinned on Jesus, hopes that he will lead us to this new Kingdom he has talked about so often. But our hopes will be dashed when he is nailed to a wooden cross. Along the way one of us is seduced by money and betrays Jesus. Another of us will deny we ever knew the man. In fact, we will do it three times in quick succession. Some of us will simply fall asleep when he needs us most. All of us will abandon our friend and leader in his time of need, fearful for ourselves.
Perhaps the most powerful moment of the week comes after the crucifixion, after the body has been laid in the tomb, after “it is over.” Between Good Friday and Easter stretches the no man’s land of Holy Saturday, the heart wrenching outcome of the week’s accumulated events. Anyone who has ever returned alone to the cemetery after the funeral understands Holy Saturday. Anyone who has lost a loved one in the prime of their years understands. Anyone who is haunted by the things they didn’t do to help a departed loved one understands this day. Anyone who has watched everything they worked for collapse, along with all of their hopes for a different life and even a different world, understands this day.
Holy Saturday, this dark day of emptiness and despair gives us, for an all so brief moment, the taste of a world without Christ, a world where human pride, fear and greed have the last word, a world where violence and death reign supreme. This day allows us to see in the mirror how we are each complicit in the darkness of the world. And it is in this moment of darkness that we come to yearn deeply for the light that dispels the darkness. As we pause on this Holy Saturday, may the deep yearning within lead you to the light that is about to break forth in the darkness.