Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday

April 11, 2020

Those women—

The women who loved Jesus

sat in a restless rest

observing the commandment

of the Holy Sabbath.

There was work to do

that needed to be done that very minute,

not tomorrow.

A body to cleanse,

to saturate with spices,

to wrap with cloths,

to love.

They could have chosen a different path,

to ignore the commandment

in these extraordinary circumstances.

Surely one of the women

made the case for action.

They could have made their way

to the sealed tomb,

confronted Roman guards,

realized the futility of it all,

left weeping hopelessly,

giving up on the task.

But sometimes the waiting—

the Holy Sabbath—

is the thing that makes

the next step possible.

They waited,

followed the rules,

did what was required

and showed up on time

for their real destiny,

Witness to the risen Lord,

First to proclaim

“He is risen,

He is risen indeed!”