Empty Saturday

Easter Week blog #2


I've always been fascinated by Empty Saturday. Sandwiched between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Empty Saturday is the day when the body of Jesus lay in the tomb, stone rolled over the entrance, dead as a dead body can be. There was no messiah walking the earth. No Son of God in heaven. No spirit of the Son dwelling on earth. Just a drab, dreary, dull, disturbing, empty day. For those living in the then and there, it must have been the worst day ever.

Can you imagine what it must have been like? The birds stopped singing. The flowers refused to unfurl. The wildlife stowed away in their secret houses. The wind calm as a sleeping baby.

Can you imagine it? Hard to, isn't it?

Scripture tells us of only one event happening on Empty Saturday. It can be found at the end of Matthew 27.

"Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I [am to] rise again.’ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it [as] secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone."

 That's it. On Empty Saturday, the only action came from those who put Jesus in that grave, the troubled Pharisees and an obviously annoyed Pilate. It's funny the reactions of the two main parties in the life of Jesus. The Pharisees were worried about the disciples stealing the body. Meanwhile, the disciples had given up hope and were mourning in the Upper Room. The meek who became mighty in the presence of majesty became meek once again. They weren't even entertaining the thought of stealing the body. They were just trying to get their wits in order!

On the spiritual side, there was more going on that Saturday. Exactly what happened to Jesus' spirit is the subject of great and wide debate among theologians because Scripture does not make it clear. The 2nd Century Apostles Creed says that he descended into "hell." That's one view. Some say he preached to the fallen angels, proclaiming his victory. Some say he opened the gates of Hades, the place of the dead, to release the spirits of the righteous ones, sending them to heaven. Truth is... nobody knows for sure but all have their bible verses to support their views. I'm staying away from this argument. I'll just conclude that Jesus' spirit was not with his body in the tomb that Saturday. His body was dead.

What a bummer! Empty Saturday is a strange, forgotten day in the Church calendar, too. We celebrate Good Friday with a solemn service, then make plans for Easter Sunday. There's not usually anything liturgical going on Saturday. It's a preparation day, of sorts. In fact, I'll be heading to my church, myself, in a few minutes to prepare for tomorrow morning.

Maybe Empty Saturday and Good Friday serve as emotional foundation stones for Easter Sunday. We know their spiritual value, but maybe their solemn tones help us celebrate on Sunday morning. Kind of like riding a roller coaster. After all, without the valleys there are no heights.

May you have a blessed Empty Saturday and a marvelous Easter Sunday!

-- John