Day of Rest and Waiting

“That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment” (Luke 23:54-56, NKJV).

On the Jewish day of Preparation for the Sabbath, Jesus was buried. Joseph of Arimathea, “who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God” (Luke 23:51) had asked Pilate for permission to bury Jesus “in the garden (in) a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid” (John 19:41). Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who had come to Jesus by night (John 3) also came to bring a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes for preparing Jesus’ body for burial (John 19:39). But sundown soon came, and the Sabbath began. Strict observances of the Sabbath were a part of Jewish law. So strict were the laws that hardly anything could be done on the day set aside for worship and rest.

And so the men and women closest to Jesus had to observe the Jewish laws. They could not complete the embalming of Jesus’ body. They prepared spices and fragrant oils while still within the day of Preparation. But when the Sabbath came, they could only rest and wait. In this period of rest and waiting—the Sabbath—did anyone remember that Jesus had told them He was the Resurrection and the Life? (John 11:24-26). Did they forget that Jesus said: “A little while and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me”? (John 16:16) Evidently this prophetic statement of Jesus did not implant itself in the minds of the disciples. They went from the tomb to enter the period of Sabbath rest and waiting without hope, downcast and defeated.

While God was preparing for the first day of the week, Jesus’ followers withdrew to try to rest on the Sabbath. Surely sadness bowed them down. There is no indication in scripture that they kept vigil anticipating resurrection. Even Lazarus, whom Jesus had miraculously raised from the dead, seems to be no where near that garden tomb awaiting Jesus’ resurrection. With all due respect to the disciples, their major reason for living was in the tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea. They really needed the time to wait and rest. It would take a miracle to propel them from their depression. And it was about to happen on the first day of the week. Rest and waiting were about to be over. “Wait, I say, upon the Lord, and rest in the power of His might!”

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, April 3, 2010