Sabbath Sanctuary: Holy Saturday

Yesterday we remembered Christ and His crucifixion; His holy sacrifice for our filthiness and sin. Every sin I have committed, every idle word I have spoken was nailed to the cross yesterday.  

As Good Friday passes we look forward to Easter Sunday and celebrate the greatest event of all time—the Resurrection. Christ came out of the grave and defeated death, hell, and the grave. He tasted death for us and overcame it. He holds the keys to hell, it is a celebration indeed!

Somehow, Saturday seems to get lost in the holiday preparations. We return to the mundane— life as usual, preparing food, doing the laundry, preparing meals, preparing for worship on Sunday. But what about Saturday, the Sabbath day, the morning and evening—before Sunday. Scripture too, seems to quickly pass over Saturday. There seems to be a void after the horrific crucifixion scene the previous day, and the celebration of an empty grave on Sunday. Matthew grants a glimpse into some of the events on Saturday; the Pharisees before Pilate ensuring the grave is guarded, there will be no grave robbing this night!

Holy Saturday seems to be a time of waiting; a place where nothing significant occurs. “The crucifixion, deliberately timed to precede the Sabbath day (which in John’s chronology was the Passover itself), was naturally followed by a pause when nothing would happen, and certainly no visit to the tomb by Mary and the others to anoint the body” (Alan Lewis, p.3).  Saturday is just an ordinary day, with Jesus body seemingly lying in the cold hard tomb, leaving all creation to groan for Him.

Though Jesus’ body may be entombed and laying on that cold, hard, rock slab—there is much happening behind the scenes, taking place in the unseen heavens before His pierced, precious body is resurrected.

Jesus was not lying idle on Saturday, He was busy freeing the captives who died before His glorious appearing, when all of heaven kissed the earth. He was battling the devil and his minions. The prophet Hosea foretold the descent of Christ into Hell in Hosea 13:14: O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite. And so too, the prophet Zechariah 9:11: Thou also by the blood of Thy Testament hast sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit.”  Peter penned in 1 Peter 3:19 In which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:9 what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? Jesus defeated death, hell and the devil and mocked them openly; When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Colossians 2:15.  

Sabbath Saturday seemed quiet; the dust settling from the events and commotion of the traumatic events of Good Friday, and a quiet hush seemed to hold the city captive. It looked like everything was dead. Everything the Disciples hoped for is gone—their dreams died and were buried with Jesus. They could not see all that Jesus was doing, He was overcoming hell so that He could ascend to take His place at the right hand of the Father. There were many things Christ had to do before He could present Himself, the perfect sacrifice, and sprinkle His blood on the Heavenly Mercy Seat.

So rest this Sabbath, and know that though everything seems dead, and your heart is broken from disappointment, broken dreams, and betrayal, that Christ is working behind the scenes to resurrect NEW LIFE. Sabbath Saturday is a time to rest, to regain your strength for the New Life Jesus is preparing for you right now! Rest this Sabbath Saturday—tomorrow is Resurrection and New Life!

Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you. Joshua 3:5

Alan E. Lewis, Between Cross & Resurrection: A Theology Of Holy Saturday (Grand Rapids: Eerdmens Publishing Company, 2001), 3.  

The Scapegoat

Jesus fulfilled the sin offering for us, and absorbed God’s wrath. Our precious Lord accomplished yet another offering on our behalf—the atonement offering.

On the Day of Atonement, there were certain requirements of the high priest and the people. First, it was a day of humiliation for the priest. The priest was required to put off all his priestly garments of glory. Jesus, the King of Glory, laid aside the garments of His glory and left them with the Father; from the foundation of the world; to redeem the world. Jesus’ humiliation on that day cries to us still through His Passion Story in the Scriptures.

On the Day of Atonement, two goats were brought; their fate decided by the priest’s lots. The Lord’s lot would determine which goat would die that day for the sins of the nation. The other would forever be the scapegoat. Aaron the high priest would lay his hand upon the scapegoat and send it into exile in the wilderness or Azazel; representing that the people’s sin is lost in the wilderness—to be remembered no longer. The act of killing the goat, laid the judgment of death upon it—it represented the people’s sin.

The casting of the lots to determine the scapegoat is displayed on the world’s stage between two men; Jesus and Barabbas. Their fate lies in the judgment of the people—who will die and who will escape…the scapegoat. The people’s voice was heard that day in Pilate’s court—choosing a brutal murder to escape forever—laying the sin of the people on Jesus. Jesus would be the sacrifice the Lord’s lot fell upon that day—fulfilling the atonement offering. 

Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. John 11:50 ESV 

The horns of the scapegoat adorned with a crimson thread of wool…the scarlet thread woven in the tapestry of the Holy Writ…lives held by a string….

“The High Priest tied a crimson wool thread around the horns of the scapegoat and sent him off into the wilderness accompanied by a priest. The goat was escorted for twelve miles to a designated place, where the priest pushed the goat bearing Israel’s sins over a cliff. A portion of the crimson thread was attached to the door of the temple before the goat was sent into the wilderness. When the goat was pushed off the cliff and died, the thread on the door at the temple was said to turn from red to white. This was a divine sign to the people that God had accepted their sacrifice and their sins were forgiven.”[1]

Come now, and let us reason together, Says the LORD, Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. Isaiah 1:18

Ancient Rabbinical writings tell of a tradition…forty years before the temple, the thread ceased turning from red to white…That thread is forever white at the fulfillment of the atonement offering by Jesus, when He appeared before the Mercy Seat in heaven and sprinkled His blood before the Father…..

 

In His Grace,

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[1]Booker, Richard, Celebrating Jesus In The Biblical Feasts (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2009), 130-131.