Holy Saturday: The Great Sabbath

I'm writing just a few minutes before three o'clock on Good Friday, and according to the Gospel accounts, it was at this time that Jesus, "God of God, very God of very God" (as the Nicene Creed says) died on the cross. Perhaps like me, on this Good Friday you have envisioned God in our flesh, Jesus, being taken down from the cross and carried on a bier to the tomb where hastily his friends are placing him on a stone slab before the Friday sun sets and the sabbath begins. In an hour or so, the tomb will be shut and sealed.

In my prayerbook, I'm asked to remember--with Christians everywhere--that this evening is Holy Saturday because tonight begins the day that Christ "rested" physically in the tomb. Anciently, it is also believed that it was on this day Our Lord performed in spirit the Harrowing of Hell and raised up to Paradise those held captive there.

Beginning this evening and nearly all of tomorrow's Saturday/Sabbath, I will be resting a good bit, simply waiting (sitting quietly outside if the weather is good, perhaps reading) for the day to pass so that on Saturday evening, June and I will, along with our daughter Chelsea, can drive up to Lexington for the 7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil, the first stirrings of Easter, the Day of the Resurrection of Our Lord. As I wait, I plan to listen to Henri Nouwen's wonderfully insightful talk on “The Spirituality of Waiting,” which you can read online, or hear via a recording of Nouwen himself. I owe this listening opportunity to Ben Witherington's comments in which he says,
During a difficult season in my Christian life, Henri Nouwen provided me with manna from heaven, water in a weary and dry place and guidance on spiritual formation that I still live out of. I would say he is certainly one of the greatest spiritual formation writers of any age. The picture on the left is from one of his books which deals both with slowing down and listening to God, and also being honest with God and waiting upon the Lord.

After thanking James Howell for the initial link to Nouwen, Witherington continues:

It will be worth your time [reading Nouwen]. "For those who wait in the Lord will renew their strength,They will mount up like eagles with wings of great length. They will run and not get weary, they will walk and not faint. Giving strength to the weary, and power to his saints."

Dona nobis pacem

I plan to to read Nouwen tomorrow. Perhaps you'd like to join me. In addition to praying the Daily Offices, I will also visit Daniel B. Clendinen's Journey with Jesus to read as my lectio divina Clendinen's commentary on the lectionary readings for the Feast of the Resurrection. Perhaps you too would like to visit Clendinen; that also will be well worth your time, your waiting time.