Saturday April 3 Holy Saturday
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Psalm 88
A lament that I have been crushed and am beyond hope. When I am dead, there is nothing left, there is no life beyond the grave.
Astonishingly, to be fully with us, Jesus enters completely into such a death. This psalm is appropriately read on Good Friday as Jesus is placed in the grave. Only God’s act, on Saturday night—the eve of the resurrection—can reverse death—even Jesus’ death. That’s the only hope there is.
Job 19: 21-27a
Job, abandoned by God, continues to trust that God’s justice will prevail.
A fitting image for Jesus, in the grave, about to be raised by God.
Hebrews 4: 1-16
The author, an early Christian, is interpreting a verse “They shall not enter into my rest,” from Psalm 95 (used daily in the Daily Office). This part of the psalm describes how dire consequences followed when the Israelites, travelling through the wilderness after escaping from Egypt, abandoned God’s justice. The result was many died in the wilderness and never got to “rest” in the promised land. The author uses the word “rest,” from that psalm and other passages, to suggest how Jesus’ death and resurrection relate to us now.
The author highlights other meanings of “rest” such as the “rest” that God took when the world was finished and perfect (the first Sabbath), Jesus “resting” in the grave today, and the “rest” that Christians experience right now knowing that God is triumphant over death.
The author encourages us not to be like the Israelites in the wilderness and abandon loyalty to Christ’s death and resurrection. By remaining faithful, and knowing that Jesus’ death and resurrection are the central reality of all life, we will enter into God’s “rest”—the promised land of living full lives—right now.
This week’s collect:
Eternal Giver of life and light,
this holy night shines with the radiance of the risen Christ.
Renew your Church with the Spirit given to us in baptism,
that we may worship you in sincerity and truth,
and shine as a light in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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