Joseph of Arimathea got permission from Pilate to bury Jesus quickly because the Sabbath began at sundown, and the Jews weren’t supposed to touch a dead body on the holy day. We’re told that the women followed him to the tomb and wrapped Jesus’s body in linen to prepare him for burial.
And then they waited. The city went to sleep. If it’s true that God is outside of Time, then it follows that he knew at creation, and when he established the Sabbath as a day of rest, that he was foreshadowing the Saturday when his son’s body would rest in the tomb.
When I was in Jerusalem I was struck by the stillness of the city during the Sabbath, the poetic rightness of that stillness, in the wake of Christ’s death—even as the hearts of Pilate, the chief priests, the Roman soldiers, and those who loved Jesus would have been anything but restful.
You can pick up Resurrection Letters: Prologue in the Rabbit Room Store and listen to “God Rested” here:
Andrew Peterson is a singer-songwriter and author. Andrew has released more than ten records over the past twenty years, earning him a reputation for songs that connect with his listeners in ways equally powerful, poetic, and intimate. As an author, Andrew’s books include the four volumes of the award-winning Wingfeather Saga, released in collectible hardcover editions through Random House in 2020, and his creative memoir, Adorning the Dark, released in 2019 through B&H Publishing.
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David Michael Bruno
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