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“Low in the Grave He Lay”
“The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment” Luke 23:55-56. We of course know the next chapter. Perhaps our eyes, in reading this, have skipped to the next few verses without really thinking about how the people living that day of rest after the crucifixion felt. The expectation was great. Their Lord, Master, and Teacher they believed to be the Messiah was finally entering the holy city and the temple! People were laying down palm branches and hailing Him as the son of David. He always seemed to gain the upper hand over those who were in power. But now He was … dead? All their hopes and visions and expectations of the Messiah were ended by the very ones they had thought He would overthrow. How could that happen? Where’s the restoration of Israel? What life could they have now? Death is final. There’s only spices to prepare to put on a body in a borrowed tomb. Only potential cut short that they could talk about. Only former lives to resume. Only rest. Do you live Saturday or Sunday?