The day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is one of the most mysterious days of Holy Week. None of the four Gospel writers devote any time to the events that transpired between Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus arranging a burial for the body of Christ and the women finding an empty tomb on the first Easter.
However, we can look to other epistles in the New Testament to learn more about what Jesus was doing on Holy Saturday. Additionally, we can find information about what the disciples were doing during the first Easter Vigil. These stories not only provide us with some practical applications that we can embrace in our own lives, but they also remind us of the victory that was brought about during the first Holy Week.
What Were the Disciples Doing on Holy Saturday?
John 20:19 (TPT)
That evening, the disciples gathered together, and because they were afraid of reprisals from the Jewish leaders, they had locked the doors. But suddenly Jesus appeared among them and said, “Peace to you!”
It’s important to note that this passage doesn’t refer to what the disciples were doing on Holy Saturday. Instead, the Bible says that they were together, locked up in a room on the first Easter Sunday. However, if we’re going to learn more about what they were doing on Saturday, there’s a very telling part of this verse that we can look to.
“Because they were afraid of reprisals from the Jewish leaders, they had locked the doors.” The disciples were afraid. Keep in mind, by this point, Peter and John had already been to the empty tomb. They had found the grave clothes folded nearly on the slab where Jesus was laid. But the disciples still hadn’t seen Him.
In fact, some of the disciples hadn’t seen Jesus since the night of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember, they had all scattered after the Roman guards came to take Christ. We know that John followed Jesus closely from the night of the arrest to the cross, and we know that Peter was close enough to Jesus to see Him when he denied knowing Christ three times. Judas was dead, but the other 9 disciples hadn’t seen Him since He was arrested. Even Peter and John hadn’t seen Him since His death.
They were afraid that they were next. Pilate and the Roman guards who were put in charge of the tomb were already putting together the story that they were going to tell. In fact, the guards outside the tomb had been bribed to say that someone had stolen the body of Jesus while they slept (Matthew 28:12). It certainly wasn’t a far-fetched idea to think that the authorities would try to kill the disciples to keep them from sharing the truth.
The disciples were afraid on Sunday, so it’s safe to assume that they were afraid on Saturday. While we know that they had nothing to fear, it’s easy to see why they were so overcome with terror. They had seen or heard about the brutality that Christ endured, and anyone would have been afraid that they were next.
Saturday was likely a somber, dark day for the disciples. In addition to the fear that they were dealing with, they were also mourning the loss of their friend. All four Gospel accounts reference the fact that the disciples failed to understand that the arrest, crucifixion, and burial of Christ were part of the plan. Even though He had told them about what was coming, they could not open their eyes to the reality of the situation.
What does that mean for us? We know that Christ is alive, so it may seem difficult to learn anything from the disciples’ fear on the first Holy Saturday.
Don’t we still find ourselves overcome with fear? Anxiety is the most diagnosed mental health issue in the world today, and reportedly impacts more than 50% of American adults. While we may not physically lock ourselves in a room like the disciples did, we do isolate ourselves when we’re overcome with fear. We crawl into our own emotions and jump at every sign of trouble.
Undoubtedly, the disciples jumped at every voice that passed by the house where they were hiding. When someone knocked at a nearby door, they certainly assumed it was the Romans looking for them so they could silence the truth about what happened to Christ. Our fear leaves us in a similar position.
Today, allow yourself to be free of the fear that the disciples spent Saturday living in. If Christ was capable of conquering death, is there anything in your life that He can’t handle? You don’t have to hide anymore! Even when it looks like nothing is happening, as was the case on the first Holy Saturday, God is working.
What Was Jesus Doing on Holy Saturday?
1 Peter 3:18-20 (NIV)
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits-to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.
The descent of Christ is a difficult concept to understand, but there are other verses that verify that this took place. This passage from 1 Peter is simply the most frequently cited. However, Peter also referenced Christ visiting Hades, a place of separation from God, in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:31 (NKJV)
He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
In order for Christ’s soul to not be left in Hades, He did have to go there. When we look at the passage we just read from 1 Peter, we see that Christ went there to preach the Gospel to the souls who had died before His birth.
The people of the Old Testament had never heard the Gospel. They lived under the Law of Moses. Unfortunately, good works and following the long list of commandments was not able to get them into Heaven. With that in mind, Christ went to where they were and preached the Gospel of Peace to them. Undoubtedly, Christ told the disciples about this descent, as Peter wrote about it at least twice. Paul also referenced this event in his letter to the Ephesians, and Peter was a traveling companion of Paul.
Does the descent of Christ to preach the Gospel to those souls mean anything to us? We’ve never lived under the law. We have heard the Gospel and know that believing in Christ is our only hope for salvation. Christ’s descent provides us with two powerful truths.
First of all, it means that God loves humanity with a love greater than we can imagine. Christ was so passionate about the souls of those who had died before His birth that He went to them so they could hear a message of deliverance.
Additionally, it’s a powerful reminder that God is working even when it doesn’t look like it. On the surface, Saturday was just a lull between major events. He died on Friday, and He rose on Sunday. It didn’t look like He did anything on Saturday, but Christ was moving, working, and setting souls free. Even when it looks like nothing is happening in your life, God is moving. Even when it looks like your prayers aren’t being answered, Christ is breaking yokes and creating freedom.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for working even when it looks like nothing is happening. Thank You for loving humanity so much that You would do anything to get Your truth to them. Thank You for giving me victory over my fears. In Christ’s name, Amen.