The body of Christ
Then he laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him,
Saying, “Alas, my brother!” 1 Kings 13:30
Read Matthew 27:57—66
I have one or two thoughts, only. Not many. So much is beyond thought now. Maybe my thoughts are mere speculations now, and I should hold them lightly. One is that even in embracing death Jesus remains active and he remains Lord. He was made alive in the Spirit, and preached to the spirits in prison, the disobedient of former times.[1] The Coptic and Orthodox churches picture Jesus breaking the chains and prisons that held everyone from Adam and Eve onwards, recognisable figures from the Bible. So even in death he continues the battle with evil. In death he wins the ultimate victory. The other thought comes to me as I read that Jesus’ body was taken into the kindly hands of one of his followers, not a family member, but one who had enough influence to be granted the body. And I think of the way, at that level, the Lord of the universe has put his very name and repute into such human hands as mine.
Paryer
Dear Lord, this Holy Saturday evening, this night after I have thought upon your cross, before I celebrate your resurrection, this time of waiting and reflecting upon these impossible things, I thank and praise you for your total power and your total weakness. You are Lord and victor over all human history, every man and every woman who lived to the end of their happy days; every child aborted in the womb; everyone cut off in their prime, or struck down in terror, war, famine of disease. You are Lord over the sin that leads to death. In you the prison of death has sprung open. And you are among us in weakness. Your name is dishonoured today. May I, who hold your body in my hand at the holy communion, always reverently discern your body and your saving presence in all things and this night.
[1] I Peter 3:18—20