Holy Saturday

Good afternoon sisters and brothers,
I've never quite known what to do with today. Good Friday Jesus dies and is buried; tomorrow he will rise again. Today, we wait. Someone once told me that Holy Saturday is his favorite day in the church calendar because it reflects our whole life. We know Jesus has come, but we're waiting for him to return. Our life is lived in the tension between what God has already done in Christ and the full redemption of creation for which we wait when Christ returns. So today we rest, we wait, we reflect.

May it be a blessed time for you,
Sam

Luke 23:50-56

⁵⁰Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, ⁵¹had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. ⁵²This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. 

⁵⁴It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. ⁵⁵The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

waiting on the Sabbath

Good morning brothers and sisters,
As a quick reminder, tomorrow morning we'll begin our celebration of the Lord's resurrection with a sunrise service at the east end of Durand Eastman Park (parking area B) at 6 am. We'll continue worship with our joy at our 10 am service at Laurelton with great music. If you have a chance, it would be great to bring a cut flower or two to decorate our cross out front.

Today we hear that of all Jesus' disciples three women and a man named Joseph were the only ones who stayed to see him buried. While the religious leaders scheme to guard the tomb, the disciples, including us, wait. May your waiting today be blessed.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 37:55-66

55Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him.56Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.



57When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.


62The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” 65Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” 66So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.