The Saturday, as is usual for the day after, was quiet.
He was dead and His enemies celebrated the victory, while His followers scattered and fled. They had hoped beyond hope and they believed, probably more wishfully than with confidence, that He was the Messiah.
Now they were despondent. They forgot His constant prophesy that He would be killed and would rise again. They failed to remember His teaching that His kingdom was not of this world, but of the next.
Only His mother had true faith that He would conquer death. But that did not dull the pain of seeing her Son brutally tortured and executed.
However, His enemies had not forgotten the claim that He would rebuild His temple three days after they had torn it apart. In fact, it was that very claim that they had used in the trial against Him the day before.
So on that Saturday the chief priests and the Pharisees went once again to Pilate. And once again, this Roman governor was dealing with the Jewish leadership because of this Man, now dead.
It was a strange request. They asked Pilate for a detachment of Roman soldiers to guard His tomb. The Jewish leaders wanted to make sure that He stayed dead; they were not going to allow His followers a chance to steal Him from the grave and concoct any stories of resurrection.
Pilate gave them a guard.
Soon after, the chief priests and Pharisees checked to make sure He was inside the tomb. Then it was closed again and their seal put on the stone. The guards were given their orders and, satisfied that this final arrangement would ensure total victory, the chief priests and Pharisees went to their homes to get on with life.
That was the Saturday.
See also in this series:
- The Sunday before
- The Monday
- The Tuesday
- The Wednesday
- The Thursday
- The Friday
- The Saturday
- The Sunday
*****
I have relied heavily on Guiseppe Ricciotti’s book, Life of Christ, for this article. It was translated by Alba I. Zizzamia and published by the Mercier Press, Ireland in 1955. It carries the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Milwaukee, Moses Kiley, dated 6 February, 1952.
