Day 48 - Holy Saturday

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3 (From a Prophecy at the Vesperal Liturgy on Holy Saturday Morning)

As I sit down to write this reflection, I have just come home from the Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday. What a beautiful and special service this is. The depth of meaning and the theology that is in the stichera of the Lord I have cried verses to the singing of “Arise O God and judge the earth” and the Church going from dark vestments to white, to the first proclamation by an angel that Jesus is Risen from the dead. This Liturgy is like a bridge between the sadness and solemnity of Holy Friday and the unbridled joy that will be Pascha.

Each year I am amazed at the quiet beauty of Holy Saturday and its Liturgy. As I read Fr. Stavros’ reflection today, he touched on another aspect of Holy Saturday that truly explains all of these things.

We have talked a few times about how Jesus came not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. Today truly brings that lesson home. Why? Because today, the Jewish Sabbath, Jesus rested. Earlier we talked about the completion of the circle of salvation in Christ’s words “It is finished” on the cross. Those words also signaled that He was still following the Law as he rested on the next day, the Sabbath. He rested in the tomb.

As Fr. Stavros points out, that Sabbath must have been a day of uncertainty and nervousness in Jerusalem, even some fear. What a beautiful and powerful contrast we have on our Holy Saturday. There is no fear, there is only anticipation. We know what is going to take place. We live in the reality of what took place. We embrace what will take place. As we hear in today’s service:

Moses the great mystically prefigured this present day saying: “And God blessed the Sabbath day.” For this id the blessed Sabbath, this is the day of rest, on which the Only-begotten Son of God rested from all His work. Suffering death in accordance with the plan of salvation, He kept the Sabbath in the flesh, and returning once again to what He was, through His Resurrection He has granted us eternal life, for He alone is good and loves mankind.

Arise today…and await the Resurrection!

In Christ

Fr. David