The Final Days Of Jesus. (Holy Saturday)

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After overseeing the murder of Jesus, the Jewish leaders walked down Calvary’s Hill, into the city, and presided over the most important religious festival in their calendar, the Passover. It would be like preaching a sermon hours after you shot and killed someone. Their hearts were so hardened that the paradox of it all did not seem to register. 

And as the sun went down, and Saturday dawned, the city went back to a state or normalcy. For now. 

In relation to Jesus, it may not seem like much could be reported. But as you will see, much was happening on Holy Saturday.

Saturday, April 3rd, 30 AD.

JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA

After Jesus died, the body would need to be claimed. That is, if someone wanted to honor it through burial, it was their responsibility to come retrieve it. Abandoned bodies, on the other hand, would be left in the elements to decay or be eaten.

This is where Joseph of Arimathea enters our story. He was a wealthy aristocrat (Matthew 27:57), a respected member of the Jewish Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43), and a secret follower of Jesus (John 19:38). We do not know how long Joseph had been a follower of Christ, but it is clear that his first public act of service happened on Saturday. Joseph went to Pilate, got permission to claim Jesus’ body, and then to put Him in his own new garden tomb (Matthew 27:60.)

While this act was extremely kind, and a bit dangerous for Joseph to out himself in this way, it was also prophesied by the prophet Isaiah (Is. 53:9). Whether Joseph actively or passively participated in fulfilling the prophecy, we do not know. Either way, God is totally in control. And no promise He proclaims will ever stand unfulfilled.

NICODEMUS

Nicodemus, the well respected Jewish leader who came to Jesus by night (John 3), apparently became a disciple along the way. We are not sure when this happened, but it is clear that it did. On Saturday, Nicodemus joined Joseph of Arimathea to help prepare Jesus’ body for burial (John 19:39) by collecting all of the spices and linens needed. Even in His death, they were emboldened to serve Him.

By the time these two collect Jesus’ body, wrap Him, and place Him in the tomb, it is already Saturday (The Jewish Sabbath). This Sabbath a high holy sabbath because of Passover, which means no work could be done. So, whatever bodily preparations were left unfinished, those would need to wait until Sunday morning, when the Passover was over. 

MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS AND MARY MAGDALENE

In all of the commotion that was going on, Mary (Jesus’ mother) and His friend Mary Magdalene, lose account of Jesus’ body. Mark tells us that they were looking around anxiously trying to find where He had been laid (Mark 15:47). This must have been a frightening experience for both of them. But, given that Joseph and Nicodemus had precious moments to spare before the Passover, and likely rushed to get Jesus in the tomb, it is not surprising that they got out ahead of both women.  Once the two found the body, their anxiety abated, and they busied themselves preparing the spices, which would need to be applied after the Sabbath (Luke 23:54-56)

THE JEWS

The Jewish leaders awoke on Saturday morning with one important loose end still left to be tied up. They remembered that Jesus had predicted His resurrection on the third day. From their own testimony, they did not believe a resurrection of this nature was possible, but it did occur to them that someone might steal the body, hide it, and claim that He had been raised. They could not let this happen (Matthew 27:63-64). 

To rectify the situation, the Jews visit Pilate in the morning and petition for the tomb to be guarded by Roman soldiers. Pilate authorizes this, and tells them to use their own personal Roman guard (Matthew 27:65) to make it as secure as they can. They also sealed the stone, just in case someone made it past the guards, they would not be able to open the tomb (Matthew 27:66). 

This is what happened to Jesus’ physical body.

But what happened to His soul? Where did Jesus’ spirit go after He died? Did He go down into hell, as some the creeds have suggested? Or did He go to heaven to be with His Father? Let us explore that point together.

WHERE DID JESUS GO AFTER DEATH?

While on the cross, Jesus told the repentant thief that he would be with him in paradise (Luke 23:43). So where is paradise? Where did Jesus meet with that thief in the immediate hours following His death and in the lead up to His resurrection?

It is likely that paradise here refers the the realm of the dead, which in the Old Testament, is called Sheol. Sheol was the place where the righteous (1 Sam. 28:13-14) and unrighteous (Ps. 31:17) would go when they die. It was a place with locked gates (Isaiah 38:10) and bars (Job 17:16) that existed in the land of darkness (Isaiah 14:9) and was designed to keep souls secure until the resurrection.

In the New Testament, Jesus tells a parable about this place (Luke 16:19-31). He calls it Abraham’s Bosom. In that parable He divides this realm into two compartments. The main realm is where the unfaithful and unbelieving go for torture (Luke 16:23). Then the minor realm is where the faithful and believing saints of old were taken by angels, held under lock and key, until the resurrection occurred.

So where did Jesus go? Based on what Jesus says in Luke 16, Joe Rigney has said:

Following His death for sin, then, Jesus journeys to Hades, to the City of Death, and rips its gates off the hinges. He liberates Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, John the Baptist, and the rest of the Old Testament faithful, ransoming them from the power of Sheol (Psalm 49:15; 86:13; 89:48). They had waited there for so long, not having received what was promised, so that their spirits would be made perfect along with the saints of the new covenant (Hebrews 11:39–40; 12:23). - Joe Rigney

This seems entirely likely, since Matthew even tells us that Old Testament saints were walking around the city of Jerusalem, after Jesus died (Matthew 28:52-53). This only makes sense, if Jesus somehow set them free. Whatever was happening to Jesus in between His crucifixion and resurrection, Sunday morning was coming. His body would be reunited with His Spirit, He would rise to life, and ascend to God to inherit His Kingdom (Dan. 7)

TOMORROW

The day the world changed was Easter morning. Many had died by crucifixion. But only ONE was raised from the dead. That man is Jesus! Join us tomorrow for the finale of our Holy Week Series that covers the dramatic events of Sunday morning!