Holy Saturday – reflections on despair and hope in lock-down

"It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath day they rested according to the commandment." The Gospel According to Luke, 23:54-56

In the Christian tradition, today is Holy Saturday, when Jesus lay dead in the tomb. The women who cared for him rested, and sat with their grief, their despair, their confusion. It was a day of silence, a day of darkness, a day of stillness.

In the Gospels, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus happen during the Jewish festival of Passover, a festival commemorating the Exodus, the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.

Recorded not in the canonical gospels, but in some apocryphal texts such as the Gospel of Nicodemus, there is a tradition in Christianity, known as the harrowing of hell, that in between his death and resurrection, Jesus descended to the underworld to liberate the souls there from the bonds of death.

Holy Saturday is thus also a day of transformation. When Jesus rises from the dead on Easter Sunday he has not just been resuscitated and restored to the life he once had, he has been transformed. In John's Gospel he appears in a locked room. In Luke's Gospel he is not recognised by his followers when he travels with them and he then vanishes.

In the Acts of the Apostles, after Jesus ascends into heaven, the disciples (followers) are transformed into apostles (messengers) at Pentecost - “and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.”

The Apostles are inspired to continue Christ's transformative work of love - radical inclusivity, the liberation of the poor and oppressed – “And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)

The pandemic has brought the inequalities of our world into sharp focus. Millions live and die in poverty and squalor. If our living conditions are such that we have access to clean running water to be able to practice good hygiene and enough space to practice physical distancing, then we are privileged. Even in our privileged country, the UK, the rich and powerful have access to early testing and superior medical care, while the poor are sickening and dying in their thousands. Those most at risk of the disease, such as care workers, refuse collectors, hospital porters, shelf-stackers, are among the most poorly paid members of society. The demand for food banks has rocketed.

The followers of Jesus were not expecting the resurrection. With the death of their leader, all their hopes had been dashed. They were scared and disappointed. When the women returned to the tomb on Sunday morning with the spices and ointments they had prepared, they fully expected to find Jesus' body there and to anoint it. They were amazed when angels appeared and told them that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, but risen from the dead.

The C19 pandemic has caused fear, confusion, despair and grief. Unlike the followers of Jesus, may we dare to hope for resurrection – not for life to return to exactly as it was before, but to be transformed by love.

Let us not turn away from our fear, confusion, despair and grief. Let us use this time in lock-down to rest with all of it, to sit in silence, to deepen into darkness, to stay with stillness. Let this also be a time of transformation. Let us dare to hope for the resurrection of love in our world. Let us commit to the spiritual life, in the definition of Alastair McIntosh, “life as love made manifest.” Let us commit to doing whatever we can to help build a better world in which all people are free, fed, watered and cared for. Amen.