16 | April | 2022 | You Are Not the Only One

After Jesus was crucified his body was laid in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. His body laid there the entirety of Holy Saturday (Matthew 27:59-60; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53-54; John 19:39-42). Many churches celebrate Holy Saturday as a day of sober reflection while they contemplate the darkness f a world without the hope of the resurrection of Christ.

Why is the resurrection so important to humanity?

Without the resurrection, “your faith is vain; ^eye are yet in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17). When Jesus was arrested the disciples disappeared (Mark 14:50), and they spent the first Holy Saturday hiding for fear of also being arrested (John 20:19). The day between Christ’s crucifixion and His resurrection became a time of grieving. The disciples tried to understand why “the Messiah” was murdered. They were taught that Messiah would come. Therefore, the betrayal of Judas dashed their hopes of deliverance for Israel.
Matthew 27:62-66 is the only gospel that chronicles what happened on Holy Saturday. After sundown on Friday [This would have been the evening of Thursday as we know it. The Jewish day began at sundown.] On the day of Preparation for the Passover —the chief priests and Pharisees visited Pontius Pilate. They asked Pilate to place a guard at Jesus’ tomb. They remembered Jesus saying that He would rise again in three days (John 2:19-21). They wanted to ensure that it did not happen. Of the two religious sects in Israel at that time the Pharisees were the ones who believes in the resurrection of the dead. But the Roman guards could not prevent the resurrection – the promise of God – from occurring. The women who returned to the tomb Sunday morning found it empty. The Lord had risen.