What is Holy Saturday?

Hence the day on which the Lord lay in the grave was the seventh day, "the Sabbath" (Saturday). "That Sabbath day was an high day" (John 19:31). Think of the heartlessness of a people, that could have an high day while the Lord of the Sabbath lay low in the grave.

Christ was dead and gone into the grave on the Sabbath this indicates a great deal.

He was laid in a borrowed grave. His body lay in the tomb the whole of the Sabbath—the day appointed for rest, but how broken in upon by sin! Then comes that glorious morn, the first day of the week, and He is raised by the glory of the Father.

It is worthy of notice, that neither the end of John 19, nor the beginning of chap. 20, makes any mention of the day intervening between the crucifixion and the resurrection of our blessed Saviour. It was, however, the sabbath-day, so important both to the Jews and to the disciples. Doubly solemn, too, on this occasion; for it was coincident with the feast of the passover, and it is said "that sabbath day was an high day." (John 19:31.)

Please consider once again that Passover Lamb slain more than 1900 years ago. His body was taken down from the tree and in the evening before the Sabbath was laid in the grave. All through the Sabbath it lay in that grave, with the great stone rolled against the door, and sealed, so that none might open it. But now very early on the morrow after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, behold there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. (Matt. 28:1-2)

The work is done. “It is finished.” Wonderful words! Wonderful moment when they broke from the lips of our Lord Jesus before He bowed His head in death! May we not reverently say that all heaven would be thrilled by that cry; that to the utmost bounds of those celestial realms it would be carried, and that with it would go a deeper joy than had ever before been known even in those joyful regions? Then followed the Sabbath, the day in which the Lord lay in the sealed tomb. We do not know how heaven was occupied during that day when the Lord of life lay in death, but we do know that His disciples on earth spent the hours in mourning and in weeping, for so Mark tells us. But the morrow after the Sabbath changed everything. They were able on that day to look into the tomb without fear, for their Lord had come out of it. He had vanquished death and broken the dominion of Satan, and gained a great victory for God and for His people. The morrow after the Sabbath speaks of life out of death, of a vast harvest for God from even death itself; for Christ is the Firstfruits, and afterwards they that are Christ's at His coming. It is the beginning of a new creation in which all who believe the glad news have their part, and in that new creation they begin with rest and peace that they could never have secured by their own labours.

The work is done. "It is finished." Wonderful words! Wonderful moment when they broke from the lips of our Lord Jesus before He bowed His head in death! May we not reverently say that all heaven would be thrilled by that cry; that to the utmost bounds of those celestial realms it would be carried, and that with it would go a deeper joy than had ever before been known even in those joyful regions? Then followed the Sabbath, the day in which the Lord lay in the sealed tomb. We do not know how heaven was occupied during that day when the Lord of life lay in death, but we do know that His disciples on earth spent the hours in mourning and in weeping, for so Mark tells us. But the morrow after the Sabbath changed everything. They were able on that day to look into the tomb without fear, for their Lord had come out of it. He had vanquished death and broken the dominion of Satan, and gained a great victory for God and for His people. The morrow after the Sabbath speaks of life out of death, of a vast harvest for God from even death itself; for Christ is the Firstfruits, and afterwards they that are Christ's at His coming. It is the beginning of a new creation in which all who believe the glad news have their part, and in that new creation they begin with rest and peace that they could never have secured by their own labours.

All that the Lord had warned His disciples of had come to pass, and what days of darkness those must have been. The long night when He was in the hands of His enemies, buffeted, spit upon, scourged, and the more terrible day that followed when He was delivered into the hands of the Gentiles and crucified, and then that day—a sabbath day—in which He lay in the rock-hewn tomb! Who can tell the agony of darkness that those men and women endured, and Simon most and worst of all. But the first day of the week came at last and all was changed!

All that the Lord had warned His disciples of had come to pass, and what days of darkness those must have been. The long night when He was in the hands of His enemies, buffeted, spit upon, scourged, and the more terrible day that followed when He was delivered into the hands of the Gentiles and crucified, and then that day—a sabbath day—in which He lay in the rock-hewn tomb! Who can tell the agony of darkness that those men and women endured, and Simon most and worst of all. But the first day of the week came at last and all was changed!

All that the Lord had warned His disciples of had come to pass, and what days of darkness those must have been. The long night when He was in the hands of His enemies, buffeted, spit upon, scourged, and the more terrible day that followed when He was delivered into the hands of the Gentiles and crucified, and then that day — a sabbath day — in which He lay in the rock-hewn tomb! Who can tell the agony of darkness that those men and women endured, and Simon most and worst of all. But the first day of the week came at last and all was changed!