The Day After Jesus Died, His Friends Faced a Life of Darkness
By: Michael Murray
Tags: Life, Inspiration, Christianity, Religion, Spirituality

Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. (Matthew 27:59–60, NLT)

“It’s always darkest just before daylight breaks.”

That’s how the saying goes. But what if you don’t know when daylight is coming, or even if it’s coming? What if you are engulfed in darkness, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel? That’s the situation Jesus’ friends find themselves in after Jesus is taken off the cross and placed in a tomb.

Honoring Jesus in Death

As the day drew to an end on Good Friday, a man named Joseph asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. He wanted to give it a proper burial.

Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus. He was a member of the Sanhedrin — the group of religious leaders behind the plot to kill Jesus. This was the group of men who arrested Jesus under cover of night, held a phony trial, and then brutally beat Jesus.

It makes me wonder if Joseph was present at that trial. Maybe he was and hovered in the corner, ashamed at what was taking place. Luke tells us Joseph “had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders” (Luke 23:51). But we don’t know how vocal he was about his reservations. We do know he kept his devotion to Jesus a secret because he was afraid of these powerful men (John 19:38).

I cannot judge Joseph for this. How often have I kept my devotion to Jesus a secret? How often do I stay quiet out of fear of being ridiculed? The Sanhedrin was not a group you wanted mad at you. Intimidation was their game. And if you were part of their group and betrayed them, that made things even more sticky.

But now Joseph goes boldly to Pilate and asks for Jesus’ body to be released to his care. Maybe he felt like this was the least he could do. He didn’t honor Jesus while he was alive, but perhaps he could honor him in his death. It was a brave move to risk being caught by the other Pharisees when there is no apparent gain now. It’s a reminder that no matter what our past looks like, it’s never too late to honor Jesus.

In John’s gospel, we find out Joseph’s pal Nicodemus tagged along. Nicodemus was also a secret follower of Jesus — the Pharisee who sought Jesus in the middle of the night. The duo had to prepare Jesus’ body in haste. Once the sun went down, it would be the Sabbath, and they would no longer be permitted to work. So after wrapping the body in linen, they placed it in a tomb owned by Joseph, secured it with a stone, and then hurried home.

A Day of Darkness

The day after Jesus’ death is known as Holy Saturday. It is a time of great despair for followers of Jesus. For us, it only lasts a day. We know the hope of Easter is around the corner. But to the people living it out, this despair stretches out on an endless road before them.

I like to imagine how the disciple Peter felt on Saturday. The last time we see him, he has denied knowing his friend and master. He promised Jesus he would stick by him, and he failed. Then he gets word that Jesus has been crucified. This means Peter will never get the chance to redeem himself. The last interaction he had with Jesus will haunt him with shame for the rest of his life.

And what does he do now? Go back to being a fisherman and pretend the last three years of his life never happened? Does he try to forget Jesus and the things he’s seen? Maybe someday this will all seem like a distant dream to Peter. That’s the best he can hope for now — just a return to normalcy.

Saturday must have been a sleepless night for Peter. He thought things would only get worse. But then Easter morning came, and everything changed. Hope sprang forth from an empty tomb. And this hope made Friday and Saturday look completely different.

What’s Your Saturday?

Where are you living in despair that doesn’t seem to have an end date?

I think for a lot of us, we’re living in a “Saturday” right now in this COVID-19 pandemic. There’s a lot of uncertainty, and we don’t know when life will return to normal. Is there hope? Yes. But we need to be careful not to use hope flippantly.

Sometimes people (especially Christians) throw out phrases like, “Everything will be okay,” or “God is going to handle this all, so don’t worry.” We like to celebrate victories. We’re not so good at sitting in Saturdays.

For many people around the world and in our communities, things will not be okay. Life is changed forever. People have lost their loved ones, and can’t even mourn them with a proper memorial. They are figuring out how to move forward in life without a spouse, parent, child, or friend. For many people, things will never go back to normal.

But I don’t think the hope of Easter is to get back to a normal life. When Peter ran to the empty tomb on Sunday, he was forever changed. He couldn’t go back to the person he was on Thursday, before Jesus’ arrest. The hope of Easter Sunday didn’t erase the events of Friday and Saturday.

Peter could only move forward. On Sunday, Jesus calls Peter and the rest of his followers to a bigger story. They’ve been invited to love like Jesus and live in a new way.

Life only got tougher for Peter after Easter. He would have to make many sacrifices, including giving up his own life in the end. (Something most of the disciples were called to do.) This new life would be hard, but it was worth it because of the hope of Easter. They had a Savior who blew the doors off death. They knew that because of Jesus, there was life waiting for them, even in death.

So on this Holy Saturday, let’s not be too quick to jump to Easter. Let’s be okay sitting in the pain of the cross a little while longer.

And in our personal Saturdays — the darkness we find ourselves in — let’s remember the hope we have in Jesus. It’s not a hope that promises everything will return to normal. It’s a hope that Jesus has won the victory, so we can go out and love others.

And sometimes, that love looks like sitting in Saturdays with other people.