Holy Saturday: The Glory of the In-Between

Early in my musical training, a wise, older musician taught me that equally as important as the notes one plays are the intervals—what is not played in between the notes. In the intervals is where tension builds, thoughts develop, and sublimity resides. Likewise, in the interval between Good Friday’s minor tone and the triumphant chorus of Resurrection Sunday, Holy Saturday plays a crucial function.

The Gospel accounts give scant details about what unfolded on the full day between Jesus’ execution and resurrection. We know that, after burying him in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, the faithful followers of Jesus rested according to the Sabbath command (Luke 23:56; cf. Exodus 20:8–11). We know that on this day the Jewish leaders entreated the Romans to place guards at the tomb, lest the disciples steal Jesus’ corpse and pull off an elaborate resurrection hoax (Matthew 27:62–66). From this latter fact derives an important apologetic for the resurrection; had Jesus swooned or the disciples indeed attempted some ruse, these authorities would have been the first to know and prevent such attempts.

It is from other passages that we must piece together what Jesus underwent in the span between his death and rising. We know that for those living under the conditions of the old covenant world, the spirits of both the righteous and unrighteous went to reside in the earth, in Sheol (Psalm 16:10; Luke 16:19–31). Within Sheol was both a place of torment, understood as hell, Hades, or Tartarus, as well as a place of rest known as paradise or Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22–23). It is to this latter compartment that Jesus pledged to be with the repentant thief of the Cross that very day (Luke 23:43). Jesus indeed descended into Sheol, or the grave, but not to be punished; God did not abandon him to the corruption of the grave (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27).

From Ephesians 4:9, echoing Psalm 68:18, we have support for the interpretation that Jesus descended into the lower parts of the earth. Peter also lends credence to the view that Christ in the grave proclaimed his victory to the spirits of the dead (1 Peter 3:18–20). After this visit, Christ led the righteous dead victoriously ascendant into heaven, to the direct presence of God, such that now under the new covenant for a saint to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8; cf. Philippians 1:23).

Piecing all the data together, we arrive at what traditional theology has called the harrowing of hell—Jesus’ triumphant descent to the place of the dead to proclaim his victory to the imprisoned spirits and victoriously ascend with the souls of the saints. This is not to be confused with the sometimes circulated false teaching that Jesus himself suffered the fires of hell in the span between his death and resurrection. I once had the displeasure of seeing this scene acted out as a scene in an Easter stage production, and the effect of the grotesque scene in which an actor portraying Satan was personally torturing Jesus in flame was absurd—nevermind heretical.

To the contrary: when Jesus announced that it was finished on the cross (John 19:30), he did not merely mean that phase one of his torment was reaching its end, but that the full cup of God’s wrath had been drank down to the dregs—none remained for Jesus to endure in his disembodied state.

From another perspective, Jesus’ state on Holy Saturday teaches us something further about his active obedience. Even in death, the Lord Jesus was obedient to the law of God—specifically, to the fourth command regarding the Sabbath day. In his state of rest, he mirrored his Father’s act at creation of resting on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2–3). Jesus, having accomplished redemption, also rested in the grave, still fulfilling the law on our behalf.

Today is a testament to the fact that God is still gloriously working behind the scenes even on our most seemingly mundane days—during times that feel like they are the mere spaces between other more important events in life. Though we may be tempted to overlook the interval between the dirge of Good Friday and the overture of Sunday, Holy Saturday reminds us of the glory of the in-between.