A Reflection on Holy Saturday
A Reflection on Holy Saturday
Introduction
Within Christianity there is a tendency, when it comes to reflecting on the events that occurred during “Holy Week”, to come to Good Friday and commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross and then to fast-forward ourselves and our thinking from His death to celebrating His resurrection on the following Sunday. Somehow the day in between, Holy Saturday, is often forgotten in this process. To many, Holy Saturday is just the day before Easter but as Cones puts it ‘there’s no Easter Sunday without Holy Saturday’ (Cones, 2006:50). In more recent times there has been a bit of a revival in thought over this day. There are people who are thinking about and reflecting upon the experience of Holy Saturday. They have attempted to find meaning and relevancy for this day which is so often overlooked by many. This paper will look at the most common reflections of Holy Saturday and will assess and critique these reflections.
Reflections on Holy Saturday
Basically, there seems to be two lines of thinking when it comes to reflection on Holy Saturday. On the one hand, there are those who reflect on the work and victory of Jesus Christ in His death and burial on that day in-between His death and resurrection, focusing on His descent to Hades. On the other hand, there are those who have reflected on the waiting period in-between His death and resurrection, focusing on the silence of Christ in this period of time. To these reflections we will now look.
Reflections upon a Victorious Christ
This line of thought in Holy Saturday reflections comes out of these key verses (emphases added):
Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. (Ps. 16:10)
This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He took many captives and gave gifts to His people.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the
Introduction
Within Christianity there is a tendency, when it comes to reflecting on the events that occurred during “Holy Week”, to come to Good Friday and commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross and then to fast-forward ourselves and our thinking from His death to celebrating His resurrection on the following Sunday. Somehow the day in between, Holy Saturday, is often forgotten in this process. To many, Holy Saturday is just the day before Easter but as Cones puts it ‘there’s no Easter Sunday without Holy Saturday’ (Cones, 2006:50). In more recent times there has been a bit of a revival in thought over this day. There are people who are thinking about and reflecting upon the experience of Holy Saturday. They have attempted to find meaning and relevancy for this day which is so often overlooked by many. This paper will look at the most common reflections of Holy Saturday and will assess and critique these reflections.
Reflections on Holy Saturday
Basically, there seems to be two lines of thinking when it comes to reflection on Holy Saturday. On the one hand, there are those who reflect on the work and victory of Jesus Christ in His death and burial on that day in-between His death and resurrection, focusing on His descent to Hades. On the other hand, there are those who have reflected on the waiting period in-between His death and resurrection, focusing on the silence of Christ in this period of time. To these reflections we will now look.
Reflections upon a Victorious Christ
This line of thought in Holy Saturday reflections comes out of these key verses (emphases added):
Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. (Ps. 16:10)
This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He took many captives and gave gifts to His people.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the
Bibliography: Beattie, Tina (2000). ‘The Patient Vigil of Holy Saturday – A Reflection on J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace’ in The Tablet patient_vigil_holy_saturday.pdf) (1st June 2010). Cones, Bryan (2006). Are we there yet? U.S. Catholic; April 2006, Vol. 71 Issue 4: 50. Erickson Millard J. (1996). Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. Guroian, Vigen (2010). Descended into hell: The meaning of Holy Saturday. Christian Century; March 2010, Vol Krondorfer, Bjorn (1997). Being Alive On Holy Saturday. Cross Currents; Spring 1997, Vol. McCracken, Brett (2008). Easter Saturday in The Search. Available Internet: (http:// stillsearching.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/easter-saturday/) (29th May 2010) Oakes, Edward T. (2007). The Internal Logic of Holy Saturday in the Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar Seasoltz, Kevin (2002). Between the Cross and Resurrection (Book). Theological Studies; June 2002, Vol