Saturday, April 11, 2020
The Rev. Nathaniel Bourne
Collect
O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading
John 19:38-42
Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Reflection
It’s Holy Saturday – the day between the anguish of Good Friday and the joy of Easter. It’s always been one of the most confusing days of the liturgical year. Do I stay in the sadness and mourning of Good Friday? Or do I start looking towards Easter? I plan to spend this day preparing. I’ll start preparing the Easter dinner I’ll share with Nicole and her brother who has been staying with us. We’ll record our Easter service, and look with excitement to the Alleluias from this community. In our tradition, Holy Saturday was also a day of preparation for Jesus. It was the day of “the harrowing of hell”, when it’s believed that Jesus spent the day between the crucifixion and the resurrection going to all those who died before him, so that they might be raised and resurrected with him.
I offer you these two pieces of art to guide your reflections on this Holy Saturday, this icon:
Harrowing of Hell, 14th c. Fresco, Chora Church, Istanbul (Wikipedia)
And this poem:
Ikon: The Harrowing of Hell
Denise Levertov (1923-1997)
Down through the tomb's inward arch
He has shouldered out into Limbo
to gather them, dazed, from dreamless slumber:
the merciful dead, the prophets,
the innocents just His own age and those
unnumbered others waiting here
unaware, in an endless void He is ending
now, stooping to tug at their hands,
to pull them from their sarcophagi,
dazzled, almost unwilling. Didmas,
neighbor in death, Golgotha dust
still streaked on the dried sweat of his body
no one had washed and anointed, is here,
for sequence is not known in Limbo;
the promise, given from cross to cross
at noon, arches beyond sunset and dawn.
All these He will swiftly lead
to the Paradise road: they are safe.
That done, there must take place that struggle
no human presumes to picture:
living, dying, descending to rescue the just
from shadow, were lesser travails
than this: to break
through earth and stone of the faithless world
back to the cold sepulchre, tearstained
stifling shroud; to break from them
back into breath and heartbeat, and walk
the world again, closed into days and weeks again,
wounds of His anguish open, and Spirit
streaming through every cell of flesh
so that if mortal sight could bear
to perceive it, it would be seen
His mortal flesh was lit from within, now,
and aching for home. He must return,
first, in Divine patience, and know
hunger again, and give
to humble friends the joy
of giving Him food—fish and a honeycomb.
Question
How are you preparing yourself for Easter today? How is Christ reaching down to you to bring you up to new life?