Good Friday and Holy Saturday

“Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’....and it was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.” John 19:19, 20b

The chronology of these days can be gleaned from the scriptures. Luke tells us that as soon as it was day (the Jewish day watch begins at 6:00 am), the Sanhedrin rose up after their trial of Jesus in the night, and led Him to Pilate for judgment. The gospels record Pilate’s deliberations and Matthew tells us that finally he washed his hands of the whole matter and handed over this innocent man to the crowd to crucify. Mark records that they crucified Him at the place of the Skull at the 3rd hour (in the day watch this would be 9:00 a.m.). Luke tells us that from the 6th hour (12:00 noon) until the 9th hour (3:00 p.m.) darkness was over the land. It was in this final hour that Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. And then, bearing the full weight of sin upon himself, He said “It is finished”; “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”; and hanging His head, yielded up His spirit to the complete judgment of God upon sin. Since it was the day of preparation of the Passover (which began at 6:00 p.m. on Good Friday), the body of Jesus was hastily taken down from the cross, washed and prepared for burial, wrapped in burial cloths as was the custom, and laid in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. And what of His closest disciples? Matthew 26:56 records that at His betrayal, “all the disciples forsook Him and fled.” Matthew 25:75b says that after Peter denied the Lord three times, “he went out and wept bitterly.” John 20:19 says that on Resurrection day, “...the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews...” And even after the reports of the women at the empty tomb, Luke 24:11 says that these words “seemed to them like idle tales and they did not believe them.” Separated from Jesus Christ for the first time in three years, faced with the enormous void left at His death, the followers of the Lord faced what St. John of the Cross calls “the dark night of the soul.”

We should mark these days in prayer and waiting. The hours between 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday, the hours of darkness upon the cross, can be set aside as a holy time marked by silent contemplation, prayer, true contrition of heart. This is the most solemn day of our Atonement. In it we should recall our own forgiveness and redemption, and the price that was paid for our deliverence, the blood that Jesus Christ shed for our sin. We should remember what we would be without Him and seriously consider that thought in our hearts. All our righteousness is as filthy rags and without God's intervention we would remain, as St. Paul says, alone, without God and without hope in this world. It is these days that enable us to know peace, love, joy and hope. In the recognition of our own unworthiness, we begin to understand the eternal worth of Jesus Christ. He is that supreme gift that demonstrates the reality of God’s mercy and grace.

Holy Saturday has two moods. The first is the keeping of vigil with its longing and waiting. It is a day in which no candles are kindled for the light of the world lies in the tomb. It is a day without music and singing, for sorrow chastens and sobers us for a time. The second theme is the joyful anticipation of tomorrow; though we sorrow in the moment, we remember His promise that He will rise again in joyful victory. It is traditional to keep vigil through the Holy Saturday night and greet the sunrise of Resurrection morning knowing that death could not hold Jesus Christ in its power. As darkness gives way to light, we receive the daily parable of sunrise and understand that it must ever be this way in the Kingdom. “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Psalm 126:5; and again, “Most assuredly I say to you, that you will weep and lament...and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy...now you have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you..” John 16:20,22; and once more, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5