No, Holy Saturday is not something that Robin said to Batman. Holy Saturday is an important day in the Christian church calendar, even if you’ve never heard of it.

The Disaster of Good Friday

Jesus died on Good Friday. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus tell us what this meant to them: “but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place” (Luke 24:21 TNIV). Jesus’ followers expected him to do what the Messiah was supposed to do: set up his kingdom in Jerusalem and get rid of the Romans.

 That didn’t happen. Instead, Jesus had been cruelly tortured and killed by crucifixion, the worst form of death the Romans used. Crucifixion was not simply a way to execute someone. The Romans used it to send a message: “If you don’t comply with our rules, you could end up on a cross of your own.” To be crucified  meant that one had challenged Rome and failed. The four gospels are clear that this was not Jesus’ fault.

He was crucified because the Jewish religious leaders wanted to get rid of him. He rebuked them. Jesus did not comply with how they thought that Jews should talk or act. They did not accept what he said or did.

Before sundown on Friday afternoon, Jesus died. To make sure he was dead, a Roman soldier thrust a spear into Jesus’ side. Blood and water came out. That meant that his heart had burst—he died of a broken heart for us.

Crushed Dreams, Lost Hopes

Jesus’ followers, the twelve apostles, the women who followed Jesus and supported him and the twelve, the larger group of disciples, and the crowds who followed Jesus, expected great things from him. Friday afternoon, all those hopes died with Jesus.

Imagine what the eleven (since Judas had betrayed Jesus and killed himself) might have said to each other

• James might have said, “What a terrible waste of three years. We left everything and followed Jesus and now, he’s dead. What we hoped for is over. Jesus is gone. That’s it.”
• Or, perhaps Andrew had the same idea as the two on the road to Emmaus. “Jesus was supposed to be he Messiah, but he wasn’t. It’s all over. There’s nothing to do but go back to the lives we left for him.”
• Or, maybe Nathaniel said, “How could I have been so wrong about Jesus? Everything I did, everything I’ve suffered, was pointless.”

Jesus’ followers all got to spend Friday night and Saturday thinking about the disaster of Jesus being executed. It’s over. Nothing can fix the horror of Friday afternoon.

That Saturday of sorrow and confusion is called “Holy Saturday.” For the original disciples, Saturday was the reality that all their hopes and dreams, all their efforts over the last three years, were meaningless now.

What about Resurrection?

The gospels are clear that the disciples didn’t even know what Jesus meant by talking about rising again.

Yes, Isaiah 26 and Daniel 12 talked about resurrection, but those were for a future day when all the pious would rise. That day was not this Saturday. They certainly didn’t expect one individual in the middle of time to rise from the dead.

When someone dies in the U.S. today, it’s common for the body to be removed, perhaps placed in a coffin, and some sort of funeral or memorial service to be held. We don’t get much involved with death. In fact, we try to ignore it.

However, Jesus’ contemporaries were well acquainted with death. If a relative died, it was up to family members to prepare the body for burial of some kind on the same day. Jews didn’t embalm people. They buried them promptly. Those who claim that first-century people didn’t know much about death or science are arrogant and wrong. Everyone, Jew or Gentile, knew all about the reality of death and knew when someone was dead.

They also knew that people did not rise from the dead. As N. T. Wright in his big book, The Resurrection of the Son of God shows, everyone was well-acquainted with death and non-Jews thought that the idea of resurrection was a terrible idea. They denied that it was possible. I highly recommend Wright’s book. It deals with false views about Jesus’ resurrection. I read all 750 pages or so, up to the long indexes, and affirm that it is an excellent book. It offers much that Christians should know about Jesus.

When Sunday morning came, and the women found the tomb empty, they believed that someone had carried the body of Jesus away, not that he had risen from the dead. Mary Magdalene was not at the tomb to see Jesus’ resurrected body. She was there to add spices for the burial process.

You might recall that when Jesus wanted the tomb of Lazarus to be opened, Martha, a sister of Lazarus, told Jesus, “It’s been four days. By now, he stinketh,” to use the King James Version (John 11:39).

Mary Magdalene was deeply devoted to Jesus. Even though he was dead, she was still devoted to him. Her devotion, in fact, is a model for us to follow.

The Great Reversal: Resurrection

Instead, to everyone’s surprise, Jesus came back to life! There was no place in their worldview for that. Jesus had not been wrong. He had not failed. He came back to life. His promises are true after all.

The sorrow of Jesus’ followers was turned into huge joy.

Have You had a Holy Saturday?

Holy Saturday is the time between the disaster of Jesus’ death and his amazing resurrection.

Have you had a huge tragedy in life? Death of a spouse? Loss of your dream job? Financial ruin? Our own “Good Fridays” can come in many forms. We have our own Holy Saturday. We look at what happened and sink into despair. Whatever we were hoping for is gone. Our plans are dead. There’s no going back. Holy Saturday for the disciples was one day, but Holy Saturday for many of us can last for years.

Resurrection, however, will come. Some of us will experience the equivalent of a resurrection in this life. God will come along and turn our sorrows into amazing joy by undoing our Good Friday.

Other believers have to wait until the next life for their “resurrection” when God undoes the tragedy of our personal Good Friday.

Are you currently living in your own “Holy Saturday”? Dead dreams? Failed plans? No hope for going back to what you had or hoped for? I live in one of those, and it has gone on for many years.

God Promises a “Resurrection Day” for you

The message of Resurrection Sunday, however, is that death, the death of a loved one, the death of a dream, or the death of hope, are not the last word on our lives. We might have a “resurrection day” in this life, or we might not.

Yet, we have an unshakeable, unchanging promise from God that one day, he will turn our mourning into dancing. Holy Saturday is not the end. There will be a future “resurrection day” for all believers.

When and how, we don’t know. We do know, however, that God is faithful and always tells the truth. He has promised to wipe all the tears from our eyes. In fact, God revealed to John that one day,

“He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.’”

Pray for your “resurrection day.”

The disaster of our own Good Friday and the despair of our own Holy Saturday will one day be undone. In the mess that life often throws at us, we can have a firm confidence, that our disaster will not have the last word. God will. No matter how much life might hurt right now, God will make all things new.