Essay / Theology

Reflections on Holy Saturday, 2004

John Mark Reynolds, 2004.

This is the day between. Good Friday with its horror is past, but the joy of Easter is still ahead. Holy Saturday is the time we live in now. Christ has come and Christ will come again. Now we are in Holy Saturday. When I was a child, I thought the day useless. Why keep Jesus in the tomb Saturday? Why not raise Him on the Sabbath? Of course, the answer was in the question. On the Sabbath Christ rested from His labor. He harrowed hell and defeated death, then He paused and rested. Why? Why hasn’t Christ returned? Because it is good for us to wait. Wait for the right time. Because rest is God’s perpetual state, He is always reminding humans of it. He is a God who rests, never in a hurry, always sure of Himself and His timing. Good news indeed for our hurried world. So we wait for Pascha and prepare. And know that this Holy Saturday may be the last, since tomorrow Christ Himself may appear indeed. Pascha to Come is soon, always soon. First Light is coming.

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