We’ve reached Holy Saturday, still mourning the death of Jesus, not yet living in the hope of the resurrection. Let’s reflect today on Jesus’ burial. The following passage is from John 19:38-42.

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.

He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh, and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.

At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been aid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Joseph of Arimathea, who is mentioned in all four gospels as asking Pilate for Christ’s body, was a very wealthy man. He was part of the Sanhedrin, meaning he was Jewish authority at the time. But he was also secretly a disciple of Jesus. He did so secretly because he was afraid of the other Jewish authorities.

And Nicodemus was also a member of the Sanhedrin and a Pharisee. He’s first mentioned in the gospel of John chapter 3 when he goes to Jesus in the night to talk about some of his teachings. And now he shows up after the crucifixion with 75 pounds of myrrh and other aloes to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.

We probably wouldn’t expect two members of the Sanhedrin to take Jesus’ body and find an open tomb nearby to place his body. Jesus uses those we wouldn’t expect to do things in unexpected ways.

Joseph, Nicodemus, and all the disciples didn’t know that resurrection Sunday was coming, so they lived in  Saturday. They took what they had and prepared Jesus’ body and laid him in a tomb.

What does living in Saturday look like for us today? We are all living in our own Saturdays. Our lives have all been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, and we are unsure when Sunday is coming.

Maybe it means sewing face masks for your local hospital, sending homemade cards to your family and friends, or empowering your global neighbor to lift themselves out of poverty.

Whatever it may be for you, look at your resources, both emotional and physical, to find a way to live in Saturday with the hope and knowledge that Sunday is coming.