The Sabbath…
For many believers, it is easy to say that nothing happened on the Saturday that followed Good Friday. I, however, am not so sure, and I believe that others think the same as me. So, what was going on during the Sabbath? Simply put, we do not know for sure, but we can imagine that Jesus was not simply laying in the tomb doing nothing. By Sunday morning He will have fought and won against Death and the Devil. He will have gone to the very Pit and took back the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:19). That is, He defeated death and gave us access to God through Him (Jesus). In Revelation chapter 1 verse 18 Jesus says that He “hold[s] the keys to death and Hades.”
“[I am] the Living One. I was dead, but look – I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Revelation 1:18
There really is no reason to believe that He did not do these things while the rest of the world rested. He fights for us the same way. He fights even when we do not realize it. Whenever we find ourselves at a moment of rest, Jesus is still battling death for us! But what does that battle look like? J. R. R. Tolkien captured (in his imagination) what that battle may have looked like with the scene of Gandalf fighting Balrog (a type of fiery shadow creature) after their epic fall from the Bridge of Khazad Dum.
Long time I fell,… Long I fell and he fell with me. His fire was about me. I was burned. Then we plunged into deep water and all was dark. Cold it was as the tide of death: almost it froze my heart…. Thither I came at last, to the uttermost foundations of stone. He was with me still. His fire was quenched, but now he was a thing of slime, stronger than a strangling snake…. We fought far under the living earth, where time is not counted. Ever he clutched me, and ever I hewed him, till at last he fled into dark tunnels…. In that despair my enemy was my only hope, and I pursued him, clutching at his heel…. Ever up now we went, until we came to the Endless Stair…. From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak it climbed, ascending in unbroken spiral in many thousand steps… There… was a lonely window in the snow, and before it lay a narrow space, a dizzy eyrie above the mists of the world. The sun shone fiercely there, but all below was wrapped in cloud. Out he sprang, and even as I came behind, he burst into new flame….A great smoke rose about us, vapour and steam. Ice fell like rain. I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin. Then darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell. Naked I was sent back – for a brief time, until my task was done. And naked I lay upon the mountain-top. The tower behind was crumbled into dust, the window gone; the ruined stair was choked with burned and broken stone. I was alone, forgotten, without escape upon the hard horn of the world. There I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth. Faint to my ears came the gathered rumour of all lands: the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow everlasting groan of overburdened stone. And so at the last [He] found me again, and he took me up and bore me away…. Thus it was that I came… and found you but lately gone. I tarried there in the ageless time of that land where days bring healing not decay. Healing I found, and I was clothed in white. Counsel I gave and counsel took.”
~Gandalf, in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
By J R R Tolkien
While this is of course a fantasy version of what happened to a fictional character, Tolkien may have looked to his Christian beliefs of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ to draw inspiration for the scene. It is but a glimpse, but we can see that our Lord was not resting idle in a tomb prior to Resurrection Sunday. He was very busy fighting for us!
Now, as for those other scenes at the Cross that I was talking about yesterday.
‘When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided His clothes and cast lots. ‘
Luke 23:33-34
Even as His accusers were crucifying Him and mocking Him, He still offered forgiveness. Jesus does this for us, because we do the same to Him every day. We crucify Him every time we sin. We mock Him every time we deny Him by our actions. He still offers forgiveness…every time!
‘Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved standing there, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.’
John 19:25-27
Jesus’ mother, aunt, most devoted follower, and His beloved disciple were there for the entire crucifixion. While on the Cross, Jesus made sure that His mother would be taken care of. While He was dying, His thoughts were on other people! He considered the people He loved the most, and bonded them together as mother and son before He took His last breath.
He does the same for us. He considers us, even when we mistreat Him. He makes provision for us so that we will be cared for.
That is what the Sabbath is about. He paid the price of sacrifice on the Cross on Friday, and rose from the grave to show that He had conquered death on Sunday. But on Saturday, He was considering us! He was fighting Death! He was defeating our greatest enemy! Why?
Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:10 HCSB
