St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
March 30, 2024
Holy Saturday
Job 14:1-14
Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16
1 Peter 4:1-8
Matthew 27:57-66
When the Tomb is Full
This morning we arrive at the most mysterious, most unknowable, most in-between time of the Christian Year.
The Palm Parade seems a distant memory.
The tumult and suffering of Good Friday is mercifully ended.
Jesus has poured out his blood, his love, his life, and his hope for us.
And this morning we remember the hard fact that Jesus really died.
This morning we remember that, for a time, the tomb was not empty.
The tomb was full.
There are many who believe that the best way to observe this day is simply to be quiet.
There’s wisdom to that but the reality is that most, maybe all, of us, won’t be quiet today.
Instead, we’ll keep busy – maybe getting ready for tomorrow.
Or, maybe just doing our usual chores and activities.
So, that’s why I think it’s important to gather this morning and to remember, to face, this mysterious in-between time when Jesus was really dead.
When the tomb was not empty.
It was full.
Scripture is mostly silent on what was going on during this in-between time.
But that hasn’t stopped Christians from speculating, imagining, what it means that Jesus “descended to the dead.”
Some have described what’s called the “Harrowing of Hell,” that Jesus didn’t just descend to the dead but he liberated the dead, leading them out of hell, with Adam and Eve often pictured at the front of the line.
Or, as I like to think, maybe Judas was the first to be freed.
I don’t know.
But if Jesus is who we say he is, then in some sense God has experienced death.
God knows what it’s like when the tomb is full.
And so, in those times when it feels like our tomb is full, when we are consumed by fear and grief, when we are confronted by betrayal and death, we can be sure that God knows what this is like, that God is beside us, enduring with us.
And, because we know what – we know who – Mary Magdalene will discover in the garden early tomorrow morning, we can be sure that God won’t leave us in our tombs forever.
After the tumult and suffering of yesterday and in this mysterious in-between time today, and with our own worries and the many troubles of the world, we may be feeling empty.
But remember:
God is never empty.
God is always full of life and love.
Life and love, shared with and through Jesus.
Life and love, shared with us.
The tomb will not be full forever.
Soon.
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