From the Gospel burial accounts:
Joseph of Arimathea, a distinguished member of the council, who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God,
Let us first look at this figure known only for his appearance on Holy Saturday. Joseph of Arimathea is an impressive figure. He was"a virtuous and righteous man", both a disciple of Jesus and a member of the council. Though a member of the council, he did not consent to the plan to kill Jesus. Though he was a rich man it became obvious that his riches were not the most important thing to him. He following Jesus secretly while it was possible for him, "for fear of the Jews". Perhaps this let him remain on the council and try to tilt that balance toward justice from that position. But when it came down to it, he was willing to be expose his secret.
[He] came and courageously went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
It is an unusual faith that was willing to risk his position and reputation and riches for the body of Jesus. We could imagine standing up for Jesus before the crucifixion. We could imagine ourselves being seen with him as we followed him. Perhaps we could see ourselves trying to fight for him against those trying to take him captive. But how many of us would still have concern for the body of Christ after the he breathed his last, before the dawn of Easter? What kind of faith was this that Joseph possessed? To what hope did he secretly cling to risk everything at that moment, of all possible moments?
Another example of the special kind of faith Holy Saturday calls for can be found in Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and John. The stone was rolled closed on the tomb, signifying to most that the story was over, the hope was ended, and that Jesus had apparently failed. Yet we read, precisely after this tomb was closed that:
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb.
In another gospel, just as the stone was rolled close we read:
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched where he was laid.
They had also shown affection for the lifeless body. They had aided in the burial customs, anointing and wrapping his body with such tender care. Yet when the stone rolled closed they could not bring themselves to abandon hope, to return home, to concede defeat. They persisted in faith stubbornly in spite of the dead body that they themselves had prepared for burial, in spite of the closed tomb before their eyes.
It seems likely that the story of Lazarus spread among all those who followed Jesus. But only these figures at the tomb seem to have taken to heart and clung to it as proof that they need not abandon hope. Could the one who said "I am the resurrection and the life" be killed? They did not accept that he could. Because they knew Jesus, even in his lifeless body they intuited that death could not be the final word.
God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it (see Acts 2:24).
Even after watching and helping the body to be laid to rest, these examples of faith believed, maybe not explicitly, but nevertheless actually, that this sleep in the earth was somehow temporary, for some unfathomable reason waiting to be taken up into a larger plan as yet unseen.
Jesus chose this Sabbath rest for himself. No one took his life from him. So too was the time he spent in the tomb, before the third day, deliberate. He asks us now to enter into that quiet and that darkness, but not without expectant faith, not like those who have no hope. We who know the final shape the plan would take have even more reason than these figures from Scripture to watch at the tomb with devout affection.
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