Day Thirty Nine: Jesus Was Buried
Though it is not commonly observed in the American Church, Holy Saturday, the day commemorating Jesus’ burial and full 24 hours in the tomb, has been an important part of the theological tradition of the church for two millennia.
Jesus’ time in the tomb and his descent to the dead have even been historically regarded as a test of Christian orthodoxy as it is reflected in the historical statement of the church that we call The Apostles’ Creed. And so as we come to the end of this Lenten season, with great hope and excitement for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday, let’s take a moment to pause with the historic church and ponder that he was buried and descended to the dead.
Perhaps the question that most people think to ask is, “What was he doing?” We know that he had not yet ascended and taken a seat at the right hand of God the Father almighty (that is still to come, post-resurrection; Luke 24:50-53), but scripture does not leave us guessing: One of the key passages for understanding Holy Saturday is 1 Peter 3:18-20 which says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”
When Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus and put it in his own tomb, and while Nicodemus came with myrrh and aloes to prepare the body, Jesus was not doing nothing.
1 Peter tells us that he was harrowing hell; though silent to the living, Jesus was proclaiming to the dead. “For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead (1 Peter 4:6).” The good news of God’s victory was preached to the saints of the old covenant.
Jesus’ day in the tomb matters because his proclamation of victory matters to saints today and the saints of old. Jesus truly died and in his death proclaimed his victory over it. Jesus’s day in the tomb matters because if Jesus truly died and was victorious, then we have no reason to fear death. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his (Romans 6:5).
St. Athanasius once said, “If you see children playing with a lion, don’t you know the lion must either be dead or completely powerless? In the same way… when you see Christians playing with death and despising it, there can be no doubt that death has been destroyed by Christ and that its corruption has been dissolved and brought to an end.”
Holy Saturday matters because it marks the defanging of the lion of Death and the proclamation of victory!
Jesus’ time in the tomb and his descent to the dead have even been historically regarded as a test of Christian orthodoxy as it is reflected in the historical statement of the church that we call The Apostles’ Creed. And so as we come to the end of this Lenten season, with great hope and excitement for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday, let’s take a moment to pause with the historic church and ponder that he was buried and descended to the dead.
Perhaps the question that most people think to ask is, “What was he doing?” We know that he had not yet ascended and taken a seat at the right hand of God the Father almighty (that is still to come, post-resurrection; Luke 24:50-53), but scripture does not leave us guessing: One of the key passages for understanding Holy Saturday is 1 Peter 3:18-20 which says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”
When Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus and put it in his own tomb, and while Nicodemus came with myrrh and aloes to prepare the body, Jesus was not doing nothing.
1 Peter tells us that he was harrowing hell; though silent to the living, Jesus was proclaiming to the dead. “For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead (1 Peter 4:6).” The good news of God’s victory was preached to the saints of the old covenant.
Jesus’ day in the tomb matters because his proclamation of victory matters to saints today and the saints of old. Jesus truly died and in his death proclaimed his victory over it. Jesus’s day in the tomb matters because if Jesus truly died and was victorious, then we have no reason to fear death. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his (Romans 6:5).
St. Athanasius once said, “If you see children playing with a lion, don’t you know the lion must either be dead or completely powerless? In the same way… when you see Christians playing with death and despising it, there can be no doubt that death has been destroyed by Christ and that its corruption has been dissolved and brought to an end.”
Holy Saturday matters because it marks the defanging of the lion of Death and the proclamation of victory!
Posted in Lent
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