Holy Saturday Reflection: Embracing Silence and Anticipation Before Easter Joy

Feel the heavy shroud of their silence and sorrow with me, your guide for today's contemplative journey. Together, we'll explore the biblical references to this day in an episode enriched by Margaret Feinberg’s insights, revealing the raw emotions that followed the crucifixion. Their confusion and grief, laced with creeping doubt, paint a somber and intimate picture of anticipation for the joy we know is coming.

This Holy Saturday, the silence speaks volumes as we piece together the disciples' experience and find comfort in the reassurances Jesus offered them prior to his crucifixion. The episode doesn't just recount a tale of despair; it’s a reminder that even in the absence of words, hope can germinate in the darkest of times. Let's honor the quietude of this day by recognizing the profound message it holds — that joy, indeed, can emerge from the deepest sorrows, as we prepare to embrace the triumphant celebration that Easter Sunday promises.

Blog read: https://margaretfeinberg.com/holy-week-the-silence-of-saturday/

Now get out into the world and be a woman who intentionally encourages another!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:30

Good morning Encouragers. Welcome back to the Encourage Her Holy Week series. We find ourselves today on Holy Saturday, often called the Silence of Saturday or Silent Saturday. We know that there is no scripture recorded for this day, but I wanted to come on and read a devotional I had read by Margaret Feinberg and I'll put the link in the show notes. It's called Holy Week, the Silence of Saturday.

Speaker 1: 1:17

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and culminates in the greatest celebration of all, easter Sunday. Many celebrate Maundy Thursday by taking part in a cedar meal. In a cedar meal, some churches offer special Thursday services which include feet washing, representing Jesus' last night and reckless act of love and humility with his disciples. Good Friday is often remembered and celebrated in experiential services where participants feel, taste, touch and smell the events of the crucifixion. But that's not the emotion the disciples and the followers of Jesus expressed on the day after their leader, teacher and friend was executed. Only four verses in the whole Bible give us a picture of what happened on Saturday. Verses in the whole Bible give us a picture of what happened on Saturday. In Matthew 27, verses 62 through 66, we read that the religious leaders of the time went to Pilate on the Sabbath, which would be Saturday, to ensure that Jesus' tomb had extra guard and protection. Tomb had extra guard and protection. Ironically, the same people who crucified Jesus are breaking the Sabbath by traveling and working on that day. Those who condemned him for doing healing on the Sabbath earlier are now breaking the Sabbath themselves to do everything they can to be sure that his body remains in the tomb and isn't stolen by the disciples. Jesus is still dead. He's still in the grave. They are probably terrified that they are next, that the mere association with Jesus will lead to their crucifixion. They're grieving the loss of a friend and a teacher. They're humiliated. They really believed that he was the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and doubt might have crept in. And doubt might have crept in.

Speaker 1: 3:37

We get a little peek into how the disciples were feeling before the realization of their resurrection in Luke 24, verses 19 through 21. What things he asked About Jesus of Nazareth? They replied he was a prophet powerful in word and deed. Before God and all the people, the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel and, what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. What is more, it is the third day since all this took place. A disciple named Cleopas and another disciple are walking on a road out of Jerusalem on Sunday. They don't recognize a man who begins to walk next to them, who doesn't know what has just happened. So he sums up the last few days for this man in this verse 19 through 21, about Jesus of Nazareth. They replied it's interesting to know that these disciples are on their way home, leaving the city the first chance they get once the travel restrictions are lifted after the Sabbath.

Speaker 1: 5:01

The disciples are collapsing because of confusion, grief and disappointment. In what happened on the dark day that was Good Friday, the disciples must have forgotten about the conversation Jesus had with them just a couple days earlier. When talking to his disciples on Thursday, jesus takes time to warn them about the grief, the disappointment, the doubt and silence that they would encounter during the days to come. In John 16, verses 20 and 22, it records Jesus saying I tell you the truth you will weep and mourn while the whole world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because of her time has come, but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you, now is your time to grieve, but I will see you again and you will rejoice and no one will take away your joy. Jesus is talking about his death, about the darkest day the disciples will ever experience. He knows they will meet and be met with silence, but he's asking them to wait, to hold on to the hope he offers them, the hope that lies beyond the pain and the grief and the doubt.

Speaker 1: 6:26

I'm strangely comforted by the story of the disciples on that Saturday. We're not alone in not feeling fully understanding God's silence. The disciples had lost hope completely. They were confused and shocked by the silence of that Saturday. Their doubt may have caused them to abandon the cause completely and maybe stop believing in what Jesus had taught. But despite the silence, jesus' promises that joy is coming. In our times of pain and grief and misunderstanding and even confusion, in our moments where we are left wallowing in the silence of God and unanswered prayers, when we are stuck in our Saturdays, the days following our darkest moments, we can hold on to this promised one that Jesus gave his disciples some 2,000 years ago. Joy is coming, a joy that no one can take away. I'm excited to be able to answer the refrain tomorrow. He is risen. He is risen indeed.