Holy Saturday... the day after the death of Jesus, and the day before God raised him from the dead.
Church tradition holds that on this day Jesus "descended into Hell" (as proclaimed by the Apostles' Creed). 1 Peter 3 tells us that Christ suffered for sins, in order to bring the unrighteous to God, that he was put to death and that he "went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey..." (verses 19-20).
How great the love of Jesus, who just yesterday on the cross prayed that the Father would forgive those responsible for his death... even now Jesus seeks to reconcile even more to God.
Consider the original Holy Saturday. Jesus died on Friday afternoon. Before sunset his body was sealed in the tomb. The Sabbath day began at sunset... a time reserved for God, no work to be done. I can hardly imagine the range of thoughts and emotions experienced by the disciples, by Mary on that day... Did they recall the times Jesus had said he'd rise again? I wonder if they thought of King David, who worshiped the Lord when his newborn son died (2 Samuel 12).
Whatever happened, we know that when Sunday morning rolled around, several were prepared to return to the tomb... to minister again to the hastily-prepared body... or to witness God's greatest of deeds...
Sunday's coming.
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