Today's Meditation

Holy (Silent) Saturday

John 19:38-42

³⁸After these things, 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. ³⁹Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹Now 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. ⁴²And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

We don't spend a lot of time talking about this day very much, at least not in Protestant Churches.  It is the silent, holy day of Passion week; the day after Christ's crucifixion and the day before Christ's resurrection.  It is the inbetween day.  But, in the most important story of Creation, what happened to the world on that silent Saturday and what happened to Jesus?  We get a glimpse of what our theological forebears thought in a line from the Apostle's Creed: "He descended into hell."  Some Protestant churches remove this line from the Apostle's Creed because quite honestly, there isn't a lot of scriptural backing for this doctrinal concept.  Bear with me for a moment...I might be going off the rails here theologically, but it is something that I've pondered for a really long time.  I want to explore the two questions I posed.

What happened to the world when Jesus died?  At the cross, sin was laid bare, evil was given full reign to do the most profound thing it could do - kill God.  And it did.  The Evil One was triumphant.  Jesus was put to death.  Did humanity immediately devolve into chaos?  No.  Did demons and evil spirits suddenly inhabitat the earth?  No.  In fact, nothing changed, nothing happened.  That's how impotent evil and sin actually are.  They can NEVER WIN!

And the second question, why did Jesus descend into hell?  In the movie The Last Temptation of Christ, Jesus is given a vision of what his life could be like if he chose to resist God's call for the cross and live out his life like a "normal" man.  I don't think that was Jesus' Last Temptation - that's way too easy.  I think it had to be much more difficult than that.  I think it had to delve deep into the most basic, primal part of who we are: FEAR!

What if Jesus' last temptation was that final fear that it was all made up.  That he really wasn't the Son of God, that he was delusional.  That there really isn't anything beyond this life.  That's what Atheists want us to believe.  And I've known very faithful Christians whose last twinge of concern or fear is "what if?"  There are theological arguments and deep discussions about Jesus descending into hell.  But what if it was to confront his last temptation: fear?  That it was all for nothing.

I recently heard a line on a tv show called, Making the Cut..."Everything you want is on the other side of fear."  I think Jesus had to go to that place of fear and get on the other side of it in order to be resurrected on Sunday.

We often say that God is there for us, because God understands and knows our every need, our every desire, our every fear.  The only way Jesus could do that is to "descend into hell", undergo that last temptation of fear and come out the other side of it.  

And because Jesus has been through it all....we have NOTHING TO FEAR!

For your edification this Holy, Silent Saturday

Fear is a Liar