Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:62-66, Luke 23:54-56, Psalm 130:5-8
In the drama of Holy Week, Saturday is a sacred pause between the sorrow of Good Friday and the triumph of Resurrection Sunday. I spent most of my life skipping right over this day, glossing over it. After all, don’t we call Good Friday good because Sunday’s coming? But as I’ve gotten older and experienced more waiting seasons, grief, and dark nights, Holy Saturday has become more precious. In the darkness, I find a solemn companion.
Friday is despair and Sunday is joy. But Saturday is a day for waiting, as the psalmist says, “more than watchmen for the morning” (Psalm 130:6). After the final words, the final breath, and the earth-quaking enormity of Jesus’s death, His followers were scattered and heartbroken. Even in the grim aftermath, there were still moments of courage, tenderness, and grace.
Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea and disciple of Jesus, wouldn’t let Jesus be dishonored any further. He requested Jesus’s body for a proper burial. As a member of the Sanhedrin, aligning himself with Jesus in such a public way was a huge risk to his reputation, but that didn’t matter to him. Instead of leaving Jesus to a dishonorable criminals’ burial, Joseph made room in his own family tomb.
Many disciples went into hiding, but the women who loved Jesus followed Him all the way to His burial site. They “observed the tomb and how his body was placed” so they could return after the Sabbath and properly lay His body to rest (Luke 23:55). Their generosity is noticeable to me here. While the empire would treat Jesus as a criminal, His friends offered as close to a kingly funeral as they could manage.
Of course, this level of devotion raised some fear from the religious leaders who called for Jesus’s crucifixion in the first place. Jesus had said He’d rise again in three days, hadn’t He? The leaders went to Pilate—on the Sabbath, no less!—and raised their anxieties. What if it was all a conspiracy to keep the deception going? What if his followers actually plotted to “steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead’” (Matthew 27:64)? I imagine Pilate was ready to be done with the whole deal when he told them to go and make the tomb as secure as they could.
A tomb that can’t be opened from the inside. A seal on the door and guards at the ready. There’s a finality to this scene that deserves a moment of lingering. Jesus was buried, and all truly felt finished.
Perhaps you have buried something too—dreams, desires, maybe even hope itself. How does it feel to lock them away in the dark? How does it feel to wait? The psalmist also knew this feeling.
Put your hope in the LORD.
For there is faithful love with the LORD,
and with him is redemption in abundance.
—Psalm 130:7
May you know this hope today. May you find a glimpse of redemption in your waiting, for every good thing that’s been buried could still live again.
Written by Jen Yokel
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86 thoughts on "Holy Saturday"
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What a perfect devotional for today. We found out late last night that we did not get the house.
But God is holding us in the waiting. His peace is clear amidst the wait.
Thank you God for holding us in darkness, in joy, and in those difficult I’m between times.
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Hey! I just wanna share with those praying for me at work that I got to share the gospel with two(!!) different coworkers this week.. as well as have one other really positive convo about faith with my comanager. We also were finally able to resolve the pay conflict today… some wrong assumptions were made by both myself and my comanager… we talked things out with each other. Then I called my boss and apologized if I had hurt her feelings and overstepped.. even though I still am glad I spoke up, because I do think in the moment, is what made practical sense to do. So thank you so much for the prayers!! Thank you Jesus!!!!!!!!
There is still conflict between me and the cook (he just straight up ignores me) but I am trying to focus on the good… the fact that I got to share JESUS this week and that other situation is resolved. ❤️❤️❤️ where there is opposition, there will be fruit… believing for more!
Awesome! Michelle! You are being a light!
Hello Shes
My heart is with the scattered & scared disciples.
Their feelings of guilt, longing, betrayal, grief, confusion. Everything felt over & done. While Jesus tried patiently to prepare them. They couldn’t hear it least understand it. Their in between was doubtful & desperate. They had no firm concept of what would happen next. But we on the other side of the story, do know. Our faith is secured in the realty of the resurrection.
Therefore let’s look lovingly on the huddled disciples. As life has it, we’ve all experienced that insecurity too. And through prayer & trust & praise come out the other side.
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I’m thinking about Saturday for the disciples. Scattered. It’s Sabbath. No work allowed to keep their hands busy. A sitting in the grief, shock, trauma.
I wonder how they processed Judas’ betrayal, then suicide. They had lived in community with him. How could they trust others again, or themselves to know whom to trust?
I’ve been thinking about them processing and, of course, feeling guilty – because that’s what we do – make it about us!
Peter feeling guilty about his betrayal. James and John about their wanting elevated positions. The squabbles they all had with one another. Not understanding what Jesus was trying to teach them. I would think the enemy had a field day with their minds to keep them from thinking rightly so they didn’t even remember about Him rising on third day.
How is the enemy keeping me from right thinking as I wait for Him to move in the hard places if my life?
“Put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with Him is redemption in abundance.”
Amen and Amen
Have a blessed Easter, sisters!
Great devo and comments on the waiting.
Joel Muddamalle, who has been on the SRT podcast, has fascinating take on what Jesus was doing on Holy Saturday. Check it out on Instagram.
Thank you Jesus for all you endured for us. ❤️
I remember a comment from one of my preschoolers that she repeated so often…
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“It’s hard to wait.”
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Indeed.
Ok… as we read yesterday, some people call Good Friday “Long Friday”.
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Today feels like it should be called “Long Saturday”.
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We wait…
I am not gonna lie I never really gave this day a thought. But the waiting period is so important and gave me a new perspective of Holy Week.
“Friday is despair and Sunday is joy. But Saturday is a day of waiting… LOVE this! Having watched the The Chosen and having that image (I think I know who Joseph of Arimathea might be in the series) really puts it together for me. I’ve always been more a visual person. ALTHOUGH I am not a “see-it-to-believe-it” type of person, as I personally have seen my God move where there was no way. Sigh….God is SO good even when we don’t know what the outcome is going to be.
Waiting is just not easy but its often in the waiting that we experience a greater understanding of who God is. Psalm 130 is a beautiful passage….
‘Israel, put your hope in the Lord.For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with him is redemption in abundance. And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.’
Hope, faithfulness, redemption, abundance. Even in the in between, the tension of waiting we can know who Jesus is and be reminded that there is victory in Jesus.
Great song suggestions for today – thank you. Another one is At the Foot of the Cross by Kathryn Scott.
Praying for all that has been shared and on your hearts, SRT sisters❤️
Thank you, Wendy, for the song suggestion. Beautiful! I missed seeing that one and never heard it before. ❤
I never thought about Saturday after the crucifixion being a day of waiting on the Lord!
I see it now! Even in those times that we think what we lost has been lost for eternity! God is in the waiting, the stillness, working where we can’t see! Then, He gives us oil of joy for mourning, beauty from ashes, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness!
“Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
John 16:20 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.16.20.NIV
“and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
Isaiah 61:3 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.61.3.NIV
“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.””
Psalms 46:10 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.46.10.NIV
There is work in the waiting! I needed this!
Praying for all! Thank you for praying for Levi.
Loved all your insights! Remember Sunday is coming!
Before I picked up my Kindle to read this morning, I was thinking about the women who were planning to revisit the tomb when Sabbath was over. The ‘Easter feel’ in the atmosphere had me thinking thusly before I even had my coffee!
How did they ‘rest’ when their hearts lay in anticipated service to Him?!
In contrast, we are to serve Him in the waiting. What a change! What a charge!
Am I as eager as those women?
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Wait for You – Psalm 130″ | Ellie Holcomb | OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO – partial lyrics:
Just as the sun falls down
Your unfailing love will be found
Just as the sun does rise
Your mercy will answer my cries
More than the watchmen wait
I will wait
More than the watchmen wait
I’ll wait for you
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Love, hugs, and prayers, sister SHES! ❤
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Desolation and despair. I can’t help but think these might have been the prevailing sentiments of the disciples on Saturday. What would it have been like to watch the gruesome death of both Jesus and all their hope of redemption? We get the benefit of the whole story, but they did not understand what was happening. Sunday is coming, but for those who loved Jesus, the ache of Saturday would have seemed to last forever.
I want to rush past Saturday for the joy of Sunday, but this year I will sit in the tension of the already and not yet. Still, how precious to know that joy does indeed come in the morning!
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Thankful for the Lord who has abundant love, faithfulness and redemption for His people. ✝️❤️
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Thankful for the Lorf who has abundant love, faithfulness and redemption for His people. ✝️❤️
Sunday is coming, and therein lies our hope.
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Jesus, You are my living hope.
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Brings this song to mind this morning, Living Hope by Phil Wickham…
How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness, Your loving kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Who could imagine so great a mercy?
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven
The King of kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior, I’m Yours forever
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus, Yours is the victory, whoa!
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Oh God, You are my living hope
One of my all time favs!
Love this one, too!
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That song says it all
Thanks be to God for giving me such a hope! ❤️
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Rest in the waiting. ❤️
I’m not even sure they are in the “wait” right now. They probably were not thinking of the rise from the dead, the disciples and followers were maybe just grieving and sad that it had all ended like this. At least on this day after. They were most likely seeing the brutal death over and over and Jesus hanging on the big, dreadful cross. Feeling a huge loss, sorrow, defeat.
When we suffer like this, now we can know Sunday’s coming. We have the luxury and the knowing that in our defeat we can always have victory. We have victory in Jesus at the cross. What looked like it was over—-was the necessary wait. And so we will wait, and find victory. Never give up or give in to defeat- on your own yes, but we will always have hope and victory in our Savior!! Praise God!
A few good songs on this day-
Sunday’s Coming – Phil Wicham
Wait on You- Maverick City
Victory in Jesus- no idea.
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Thanks for the song suggestions Rhonda!
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Rhonda, ☺☺☺- Eugene Bartlett , 1939 (Victory in Jesus)
I agree, Rhonda. I think the trauma and heartache of everything would just be running over and over again in their minds. I think it would have been hard to hold onto the hope in the face of such horror. In our waiting, although it can also be difficult we know the other side, we know death was defeated and that Sunday is coming.
Sometimes, our lives feel like a long Holy Saturday. Prayers feel unanswered. The future is unclear. Grief lingers. But just as the first disciples couldn’t see what was unfolding behind the stone, we, too, are invited to trust that resurrection is coming—even when we can’t see it yet.
Holy Saturday reminds us that waiting is sacred. That silence doesn’t mean abandonment. And that the darkest hour often comes just before the dawn.
Perfectly said Kimberly!
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Beautiful share, Kimberly; thank you! ❤
Amen!! ✝️
Love this Kimberly!❤️
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Oh Kimberly
You said it SO well!
Waiting…patiently waiting…these two words do not go together often in our society. But those things; important, special, needed things seem to come after we wait. We pray; we wait. Lord, may I take time today to reflect on You and ponder what today was like for those who didn’t have the end of the story already printed to read, the listen to or to watch on film. May today be a day of prayer and reflection. Thank you for this day, for Your Word and for this devotion. Happy Saturday She’s! Sunday is coming!
“While the empire would treat Jesus as a criminal, His friends offered as close to a kingly funeral as they could manage.”
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Loved this thought of what Joseph and Nicodemus did for Jesus.
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The silence of this waiting day must have been deafening to those who had committed their lives to Jesus.
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And we wait for His return and ultimate triumph over evil and death, making all things new.
Same sentence stood out to me, Kelly. ❤
Well said Jen! The waiting is not empty or wasted time, it’s a sacred pause!
yes, that is so good. Powerful.
Yes, Rachel!
How lovely!
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What his followers went through on that Saturday. But then came Sunday. O,the
I love the devotion. In God’s time may the hop
e that’s been buried come back to life!
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A day for waiting … at this Easter time of year, I know exactly what I’m waiting for, to celebrate and declare He Is Risen! In fact, I’ve known since last year, and the year before and …
But thinking about the disciples, those who followed Jesus and those who opposed Him – they were waiting that first Easter – In hope, dread, sorrow, fear, arrogance, anticipation, all waiting in some way, for something.
Believers asking,
was Jesus REALLY the Son of God?
would He rise from the dead?
what will we do now?
The ‘religious’ leaders thinking, surely we’ve taken care of our ‘problem’ and asking, so what will His followers say now that He’s dead?
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In their waiting and in our waiting, God was/is/will be always working. Thank you, Lord, and please strengthen me to wait in patience for Your plan.
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KRISTY – wow, thankful for response of these 5 of your dad’s friends. Praying as they join you in church tomorrow that they will be totally changed by Jesus.
CHERYL BLOW – praying for Levi
GRAMSIESUE ❤️
ANGELA POPE – what a tragic loss – praying for your pastor and family
KATHERINE JENKINS – praying for your mom and biopsy results
RHONDA J – beautiful comment yesterday
MEAGAN C – praying for the Lord’s guidance and peace regarding the house offer
SUSAN BURLEY – praying
SUEZI G – glad you commented!
CEE GEE ❤️
LYNNE FROM AL ❤️
MIA FAITH ❤️
MICHELLE P❤️
Agreeing with SEARCHING in above prayers
❤ Agreeing, also!
KRISTY, my condolences in the tragic loss of your dad! May God strengthen your heart this day and in the days ahead. ❤
Amen! Agreeing in prayer
I love this devo today. I never thought about Saturday as the day to wait and ponder. Gif created us and know s all too well the wealth of goodness that can come in the waiting.
Thank you Lord for your word!!
Amen!
Let me always come to You, invite You in, believe and have faith in You while I’m waiting Lord. In You it is finished. In You promises are yes and Amen. In You there is pure love and joy. Thank You Jesus my King! Amen
Waiting…such an unloved word, but we learn and grow and become more like Jesus in the wait. He is always working and moving in the waiting. Meanwhile, we rest in Him.
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Oh Erica!
Full agreement!
This was such a beautiful devotional. I also used to just gloss over Holy Saturday in between the bigger days of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The other thing I never noticed was in the Matthew portion of the reading that the Pharasees went to Pilate on the Sabbath. They were so angry with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath and I think there was some other event where his disciples picked food to eat on the Sabbath and they were upset with them. I never noticed that before.
Thanks for pointing that out Brenda. I never thought about that before either.
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Good point, Brenda! ❤
Thank you for mentioning that:)
Yes, Brenda
The hypocrisy! The hatred!
A day to focus on waiting. I never thought of Holy Saturday like this before. But I like it. Waiting is such a theme in my life. I know it is for us all. But as the Psalmist says, I put my hope in my faithful God. So the waiting is good. I can grow my trust muscles during waiting seasons. I definitely pray more during waiting seasons. And in some ways, I feel closer to the Lord during waiting seasons. Today I will meditate on drawing close to Him, in my waiting season.
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Yes, Laura
Building the trust muscle!
It was in the waiting I discovered what is truly important. It was in the waiting that God answered prayers and showed me the way to a life with Him is so much better than life without Him. Today’s SRT led me to think about waiting in a different way, instead of being impatient I want to see what God is doing in my life. ❤️✝️
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