No matter how deep our darkness is, He is deeper still. (Corrie Ten Boom)
O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day and rise with him to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Collect for Holy Saturday, Anglican Book of Common Prayer)
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.
(Our Great Redeemer’s Praise hymnal, Seedbed Publishing)
John 19:38-42 NRSV
After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
1 Peter 3:18-20 NRSV
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
[Christians] make a radical claim when we recite the descent into hell. We are saying that when Jesus died, he was truly dead. His fate was no different than any other human east of Eden. He went the deathly, infernal path of all humans. As bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, Christ descended into every dark, terrifying corner of humanity’s plight . . . The descent into hell tells us that there is no darkness we have endured, not even fearing God’s wrath, that Jesus has not experienced. Any terror we have felt, he has felt too. And he trusted in God in the midst of terror. His faith is strong enough to support us when we fail.
(Preston Hill, “3 Reasons Why Christ’s Descent into Hell is Good News”)
O God of the living, on this day your Son descended to the place of the dead: Look with kindness on all of us who wait in hope for liberation from the corruption of sin and death and give us a share in the glory of the children of God, through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord. Amen.
(Collect for Holy Saturday, Anglican Book of Common Prayer)
The Gospel of the Kingdom
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
