The scent of spices, a fragrant offering and aroma, lifted into the air. The women (who had come with Jesus from Galilee) came to the tomb carrying the gravity of their grief alongside their gifts (Luke 23:54-56). They are the ones with the perfumes, the ones ready to prepare the body of Christ.
They are the ones who, just hours before, were watching and waiting. Our Holy Saturday was simply their Sabbath—a day of rest, a time of waiting before returning to the work still needing to be done. Sundown to sundown, they wait. Then, on the first day of the week, like the sun lifting up from the dark of night into a new day, they rise.
These women, friends of Jesus, make their way to stand before that borrowed boulder, only to find that it—along with the body of the Lord Jesus—is no longer there. This moment with this missing boulder and this missing body—is it awful, or is it awe-filled? What happened to His body, dead and deprived of breath? What about that stone, sealed and secure (Matthew 27:65–66)?
This is not the work of any person, no. This is the work of prophecy (Isaiah 53:9). It is prophecy which gives meaning to this moment, calling all who are watching—including the women who were with Jesus in Galilee and us—to wring awe out of this awful situation.
There is no stone that could have held strong that closed tomb. There is no linen that could have held down that laid body. There is no human hand that could have prepared enough to steal (Matthew 27:62-64) His buried body, broken for us. For, though His grave was foretold (Isaiah 53:9), so was His glory (Isaiah 53:12). His resurrection—and our redemption—held secure long before the Pharisees persuaded Pilate to set a seal on the stone of Jesus’s tomb.
Our salvation secure, our resurrection sure. Not by works, not by our wanting or willing, but by His power and His plan—in and through His faithful hand (Isaiah 53:10). His grave held death while all hearts held hope. Their Sabbath, now our Holy Saturday, is a waiting—a reckless retirement of our good works for a relentless relying on the Word.
And what, now, of our bodies, broken and burdened? What of this world, weary and war-torn, ever waiting for death to die, for light to come, and for Christ to rise?
In the gravity of our own grief, our own graves—our sin and sickness and seemingly powerless Saturdays—we look to the Christ who came, is coming, and will come—no stone too heavy for His nail-pierced hands to roll away.
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31 thoughts on "Holy Saturday"
Amen!
Just beautifully written, Rachel.
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I don’t know if there are any Fixer Upper fans here, but I get the Magnolia Journal and Joanna Gaines wrote an article about patience and what she called “fake waiting.” When you tell yourself you’re waiting for something but you’re not actually being patient, you’re just keeping busy instead of sitting in that in between and learning from that time. I feel like if I’d been with the women who were waiting on the Sabbath to complete the work of tending to Jesus’ body, I would have fake waited. I would have kept busy and not dwelt on really probing my belief that Jesus would rise again like he said. I would have missed the opportunity to wait with expectation for the amazing things God would do. And I do the same thing now. I busy myself with my own agenda and my own plans and get disappointed when things don’t work out the way I want them to or thought they would. I get cynical and wait for the other shoe to drop instead of waiting to see what God is going to do. His plans are so much greater than what I can even comprehend, and I don’t want to keep myself so busy that I miss the chance to patiently wait for what he will reveal.
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This devotional seems so fitting for today. A day when I am faced with disappointment over my own sin and the lack of control I have over my circumstances. Life can be so disappointing sometimes. I have to remember that the only thing in this life that will never let me down is Christ. Just like that Holy Saturday, we are waiting for that day when Jesus will come back again. He will come back to right all the wrongs and put everything in the order it should have been from the beginning. ❤️
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Sisters, I was unable to finish what I wanted to say about yesterday’s Scripture because my nephew coming to my door and wanting to either know where my sister was or needing some money. Since he had been trying to get a hold of my sister without success — I don’t know why, she may have been busy with therapy and that’s what I told him, I opted to give him the money. Since he said he needed fairly soon and I had a lunch date I had to cut short everything I wanted to say yesterday.
I hope you don’t mind if I finish here today — it’s based off the Scripture from Isaiah yesterday 53:1-7, actually verse 4. I have mentioned in the past about my devotional Bible, there’s some of what I would like to pass on to you: this first part is a letter from God to the reader, “My Son, Jesus, took your sins to the cross. He died and rose again to give you salvation. It breaks My heart to watch you carry things that are too heavy for you to handle on your own….I am patiently waiting for you to call to Me for comfort. When you’re too weak to walk, I will carry you. SURRENDER YOUR WEAKNESS TO ME….I WILL lift off of you all that is weighing you down so you can be free from the worries of this world.” Then in a section labeled, “Treasure of Truth” — “ONLY GOD can carry the weight of the world.” (The emphasis is mine.) I thought how relevant this is for so many of us right now, myself included.
Then to go along with the Isaiah Scripture for today my Bible has a little prayer, “Dear God, Give Your daughter the wisdom and strength to lay her burdens at Your feet. In Jesus’ name, amen.” AMEN!!! AMEN!!! AMEN!!! I’ll be copying the pray and a few other items onto index cards and posting them throughout my apartment.
I needed to read these and God knew it. So when I have been getting up every morning and throughout the day and every night when I lay in bed I tell God and Christ I don’t want these burdens, even the little ones, take them from me, please, PLEASE!?
Sisters, be blessed and give ALL AND I MEAN ALL your burdens to God and Christ — after all isn’t that what Christ told us to do? Sorry for such a long post but I felt the Lord led my to share this with all of you.
I need to find a way to observe the Sabbath as He commanded. I find myself breaking that commandment weekly and I need to repent and find a way to do it
Good Morning Shes: The women watched the cruxifixction. The women waited to see where His body was lain. The women came to anoint His broken body with precious oils & perfumes. The women were struck by the awful or the awe at sight of the stone rolled away. Who could do this? Where was the body of the Master? And Mary Magdalene, alone & tearful & then blessed with the tenderness of His blessed resurrected body. We, women, the sisterhood of believers, Christ followers, were & always will be present, permanently, perpetually in the glorious light & eternal life of our Savior & Redeemer. As I recently read: “God with us” (in the life of Jesus) became “God for us” in the everlasting Spirit of truth, love, transcendence. May we too reflect on his death & as we know His story, look to the day following Holy Saturday. Beautiful Blessings…
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Yes!
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Thinking how hard it must have been for the women to rest in their grief! So much easier to be busy and push thoughts aside. Thinking of and praying for all who are experiencing grief on this day. Yet, I’m also thinking of what we do naturally when all the preparations are done and we stand beside the casket of a loved one…we start remembering, who they were, what they said, times spent with them. So this Sabbath was another loving gift of the Father. He gave them a time to rest and remember all that Jesus told them so they would be prepared for His coming resurrection. It was their “day of preparation” for becoming witnesses of the Lord.
Good morning She’s on this somewhat sorrowful day. I try to pretend I don’t know the end of the story, the future of tomorrow. I try to think of the day I lost my precious mother. We were in the hospice care 6 days later after a sudden, unexpected trip to the ER by ambulance for my mother. I was there when the ambulance came, I was there in the unnerving, seemingly forever wait to hear from the doctor. I was there when she seemed to be improving on day 2…then the gathering of family to wait while she stayed in the CCU. Then a couple days later she was determined she needed hospital hospice because she would not make it. My dad and I slept in her room that last night, with me sleeping to face my mother, to look upon her. Then, shortly after midnight my dad rose suddenly, and said…she is gone. Do you know how hard it is to call the nurse in, and they tell you it is finished, she is gone?! We gathered our stuff, in a daze….and walked away, in gut gripping pain, to our separate cars to drive home. Without her. Their place, their home, grandma and grandpa’s house. Where my sister, kids and my son were all gathered, probably eating and playing video games unaware. We slowly enter, and my dad goes to his room in despair. His wife of fifty years, that wasn’t even sick a couple of weeks ago, early in age (69) had suddenly left him, the one that was known for the worse health. She was his everything, our leader of the family. How could we bury her?! It couldn’t be real.
I say all this because I can’t tell you how many times in the last 9 years I go over step by step of this loss. The texts I read, over and over, between me and my sister, of what led up to the unexpected death that we couldn’t fathom. I want to feel this grief in a personal way as I think of my relationship with Jesus. I don’t want to skip it as a history lesson. It must burn in my heart. Death of a loved one. Death of Jesus Christ.
But God- He foretold us what would happen to his Son. And now we know, (thank you Jesus!!), that death has no hold on us. That was my reliance, my mother had left us, BUT GOD…she has risen!! I have an assurance that non-believers do not, the HOPE and JOY that I will see my mother in heaven. THAT is the importance of going through the new testament and to linger on the words of the disciples. We must wade through the waters so to speak and slowly go through Holy week. Go through it over and over and sit in the space of those three years of ministry leading to the cross. The week before his brutal death and how each day was valuable to ponder. We have mourning now, but Hallelujah, we have JOY tomorrow!!! It just wrecks me.
I hope and pray each one of you have a blessed Easter and make “Jesus Lives” the priority of your day!
I am listening to Joshua Aaron singing “Because He Lives” live from the garden tomb in Jerusalem on youtube. How beautiful. There is full resurrection video as well from there.
I am imagining the hearts and minds on that first Holy Saturday. Were they in complete mourning? Did they debate scripture on who Jesus was? Were any left believing that Jesus was who He said He was and that He would rise again? I am oddly grateful that I do not have to wait to know that Jesus is King and that Sunday is coming…. Happy Easter, She’s! Praying for you today in all the spoken and unspoken requests.
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The chorus of Andrew Peterson ‘s song “God Rested” are so perfect for today: “Six days shall you labor
The seventh is the Lord’s
In six He made the earth and all the heavens
But He rested on the seventh
God rested
He said that it was finished
And the seventh day, He blessed it
God rested.”. I encourage you to listen to the entire song. God bless all of you She’s this Holy Saturday!
Thank You Jesus. Let me wait well with joyful hope of Your return. Amen
Loved Rachel’s devotion today. My heart is so tender during this Holy Week. And I need to remember, is it “awful” or”awe-filled”? Thanks to our loving Jesus it is beyond awe filled! I need to cling to the fact that “no stone is too heavy for His nail-pierced hands to roll away!” Prayers for all my dear Shes on this Holy Saturday and blessing upon blessing. ❤️
Arina, I’ve never heard or thought about it like this. Thank you for sharing. This is a special sabbath thought.
Hallelujah, we wait with hope, with expectation! Our King is coming, our salvation is secure! Jesus is coming soon!
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Amen
ARINA— I love your comment and how you connected it Genesis 1. In Jesus’ words “It is finished.” He did what He came to do: give us salvation and establish His disciples to spread the Gospel. I wonder the reflections in their heads and soul on that Sabbath, after the death of Jesus. Hearts must have been crushed and sorrowful for them.
So true, ARINA! Even in death, Jesus obeyed the Father in resting on the Sabbath.
Contemplating the silence of the tomb. The mourning of Jesus’ friends while the others around them were gathered in homes celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
And now we wait, not in fear or in mourning, but with hope…
Humbled by the magnitude of His sacrifice.
SARAH D – Amen. Your last sentence yesterday sums up His truth in a nutshell, so to speak.
“No one else gives the words of eternal life.” Lord, help those who don’t know that truth in their hearts.
Thank you Rachel and Arina, your words will stay with me all day, in preparation for tomorrow.Like the women at the cross may we prepare for heart for our Lord.
Thank you, Jesus!
I don’t think it was a coincidence that the day after Jesus’s death was a Sabbath. It was like the beginning in Genesis 1 again. God rested after the work He had done. He saw and it was all very good. Like Adam and Eve who begun their lives with a day of rest, this new reality for the disciples and women begun with a day of Sabbath rest. The work is finished once and for all time. Now we can rest. Our salvation is secure. But waiting with this thrill in our hearts, till the Lord raises from the death. Till He comes back again as the resurrected Christ. Then we will enter into eternal rest. Together with Christ forevermore.
Amen Rachel King, AMEN!
Beautifully and absolutely head to heart understood every sentence.. thank you, Rachel.
Resting in the knowledge that SUNDAY IS COMING..
BUT GOD..
AMEN..
Blessings this Holy Saturday Sisters, wrapped loving in love!❤