Matthew 28:1-10

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Saturday was the ordinary (weekly) Sabbath in the life of a Jew, including the now-famous Jew we know as Jesus.

The Sabbath was fashioned after the seventh day of rest in Genesis 1 that God took after creating the heavens and the earth. Here between Matthew chapters 27 and 28, is the Saturday of what we call Holy Week, we find the body of Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, experiencing rest from His work on this Sabbath. He had just been on the cross uttering “It is finished” and died; now He was buried.

While not ‘six feet under’ He was definitely ‘behind closed doors’.

Have you ever thought about this? This Saturday is the one of the greatest portrayals of Sabbath rest, seeing Jesus’ body at rest in a grave awaiting the resurrection that would transform and redeem the history and future of man.