Read: John 19:31-42
Since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. (v. 42)
On Saturday, Jesus was dead. Christians call this day, the day when life itself stopped and Jesus’s body lay in the tomb, Holy Saturday. After Jesus died, he was buried. It’s a simple statement that we repeat, perhaps unthinkingly, every time we say the Apostles’ Creed. But we should think about it.
Corpses need to be disposed of. What makes death so repulsive is not just the fear or the pain; it’s the indignity of the thing. This is why Jesus’s burial is so comforting. It means he went all the way through the experience of death for us, to the bitter end. He even became a corpse that had to be prepared and then carried away and buried like every other dead body. His identification with our mortality is complete. “He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust,” affirms the psalmist (Ps. 103:14). And we may be sure of it, because he once was dust himself. If Jesus could do that much for me, I know that he will be with me when I too am one day a corpse.
The prayer of committal in the Reformed Church’s funeral liturgy says that “by his rest in the tomb, [Christ] sanctified the graves of the saints.” No matter how dark the place, our Lord has been there before us—including the grave. So death is not the end for us. Even burial isn’t the end. Because after Saturday comes Sunday.
As you pray, thank God for all he has done for you. Ask him to be near you now, and in the hour of death.
About the Author
Rev. David Bast
David Bast is a writer and pastor who served for 23 years as the President and Broadcast Minister for Words of Hope. In his more than 40 years of devotional writing and preaching, he has been encouraging believers around the world to be shaped by God and his Word.
Prior to his ministry and work at Words of Hope, Dave served as a pastor for 18 years in congregations in the Reformed Church in America. A graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, he is the author of nine devotional books and Bible studies, includingWhy Doesn't God Act More Like God,Christ in the Psalms, andA Gospel for the World.
Dave and his wife, Betty Jo, have four children and eight grandchildren. Dave enjoys reading, growing tomatoes, and avidly follows the Detroit Tigers.
