Daily Devotion

19 April (Sat): Wait for the Lord

Audio

Today is Saturday, 19th April. This day is called by various names, including Easter Eve, Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil or Low Saturday. It commemorates the time Jesus’ body lays in the tomb. It is a somber day, anticipating the joy of Easter Sunday. Traditionally, some churches will use this day to prepare baptism candidates (“catechumens”) for their baptism on Easter.

Do keep a moment of silence.

We start with praying this collect:

O God, Creator of heaven and earth:
Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb
and rested on this holy Sabbath,
so we may await with him the coming of the third day,
and rise with him to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Psalm

We read the appointed Psalm, number 130:

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
²  O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

³ If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
    that you may be feared.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.
⁸ And he will redeem Israel
    from all his iniquities.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.

Scripture Reading

John 19:38-42

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Reflection

In some church tradition, the laying of Jesus’ body in the tomb is observed as the 14th Station of the Cross.

In going from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, most Christians misses out on the practise of vigil. Traditionally, the Easter Vigil Service starts on Saturday evening and last through Sunday Dawn. It is regarded as the longest Service of the year. It is a “Service of Lights” as candles are lit throughout.

Worshipers are in a state of vigil as they stay awake and keep watch throughout the night.

Waiting. Praying. Anticipating. Meditating.

As we reflect on this moment, we are told that Joseph of Arimathea was a “disciple of Jesus.” He followed Christ. And on this occasion, he did so all the way to the tomb. He, along with Nicodemus, quietly ensured that the body of Jesus was treated with respect and accorded a proper “burial.”

In being a disciple or follower of Christ, we often think of the big moments. The big sacrifices. The huge victories. However, much of discipleship happens in the “in between time.”

Where it is quiet. And nothing seems to be happening.

Yet, we are asked to pray and wait. We keep vigil. We remain still, doing nothing. We let God be God and in His time, He act again.

Have we lost the discipline of vigil? The art of waiting? To learn to live with anticipation? To wait upon Him that He may renew our strength (Isaiah 40:31)? To be still and and to know that He is God? (Psalm 46:10).

Bothers and sisters, let’s just wait.

Collect

We end with the collect of the day, a prayer said by catechumens, who were keeping vigil and awaiting baptism on Easter::

Grant, Lord,
that we who are baptised into the death of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ may continually put to death our evil desires and be buried with him;
and that through the grave and gate of death
we may pass to our joyful resurrection;
through his merits, who died and was buried and rose again for us,
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We leave you with this song from the Taize community which has blessed many churches worldwide:

Wait for the Lord (Taize)

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near.
Wait for the Lord, keep watch take heart.

Link to today’s Morning Office