Morning Devotional 040426 Holy Saturday

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

April 4, 2026

Luke 24:13-27

13 On that same day, two disciples were traveling to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about everything that had happened. 15 While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself arrived and joined them on their journey. 16 They were prevented from recognizing him. 17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” They stopped, their faces downcast. 18 The one named Cleopas replied, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who is unaware of the things that have taken place there over the last few days?” 19 He said to them, “What things?” They said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth. Because of his powerful deeds and words, he was recognized by God and all the people as a prophet. 20 But our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel. All these things happened three days ago. 22 But there’s more: Some women from our group have left us stunned. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 and didn’t find his body. They came to us saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who told them he is alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women said. They didn’t see him.” 25 Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! Your dull minds keep you from believing all that the prophets talked about. 26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then he interpreted for them the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the Prophets.

Good Morning! Today is Holy Saturday!

As I sat pondering what those grieving the loss of Jesus might spend time doing this morning, I remembered the agonizing event they had been part of yesterday. Watching someone being crucified is beyond my imagination. We live in a world that has laws against cruel and unusual punishment. I realize that being sentenced to death is by definition consumed in cruelty, but theoretically we don’t let the subject suffer for hours or days as their sentence is carried out. 

The other part of this struggle is that they had not come to Jerusalem expecting that Jesus would be arrested and crucified. Despite Jesus continual reminders, the disciples and followers did not understand. Jesus even said, I do this now so that you will understand when the time comes. 

I read a UMC article about Holy Saturday that I feel is worth sharing this morning. There is a tradition in African American communities called tarrying. It is when friends, family, and church family gather around the body of someone who is sick and sometimes near death—and the community begins to sing and sometimes pray with the hopes that the one who is infirmed might be restored or received with open arms by a loving and redeeming God. Can you imagine Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome watching from afar as Jesus died on the cross and not really knowing what to do, not knowing if they could cry out, not knowing what song to sing to bring him comfort at his most painful hour?

Tarrying is not simply about bringing comfort to the one who is sick or dying; it is a willingness to enter into the pain of the community. These women dealt with their grief together. They probably wiped each other’s tears and held each other’s hands. They knew they could not change the fact that their Lord had died, but they could commit to not suffering alone. You see, many of us are suffering in silence because we are too afraid to be vulnerable, too afraid to let our images slip. But maybe, in sharing our pain, we might find others who are grieving too, others who are singing our songs and praying our prayers. And maybe as we find our collective voice of pain, we can discover our collective hope of resurrection. 

This practice of tarrying is another way to hold space and stay with someone, as we have focused on during this Lenten season. 

God of Wisdom, you bless us abundantly! Sometimes, it would be easier to walk away. Help us commit to being present for one another, even when it’s hard. Thank you for sending Jesus to save us. We love you. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

Thought for the day: Find others with whom you can share space.

Jesus bears all our pain and sorrow!  Pastor Liz