God-with-us Rested

A Holy Saturday Reflection
Written for Michigan District Church of the Brethren in 2021

Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.  And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So, God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. – Genesis 2:2-3 (NRSV) 

(As I write these words early in the morning of Holy Saturday, I am listening to Andrew Peterson’s album Resurrection Letters, Vol. 1. And I’m so moved by the song "God Rested" that I sensed I needed to build on the beautiful imagery of the song. Thanks AP. You continue to inspire me as a wordsmith and artist.)

It is finished.

Those last words now echoed in the recesses of their hearts.  

And it overshadowed what he’d proclaimed earlier, 

that he was the resurrection and the life. 

So, they did the ritual grief work of burial.

And as they wrapped his body in linen, 

it appeared that they too, 

were laying to rest their own hopes and dreams. 

The one they proclaimed with Hosanna while waving palm branches, 

now lay lifeless in the tomb.

As the sun was setting and the sabbath lay on the horizon,

As the stone was rolled over the entrance,

they walked away sighing his last words,

It is finished.

For them it was. 

It was over. 

Perhaps the most important non-words in all Scripture appear in 

the space between John 19:42 and John 20:1.

What’s happening in the blank space on the page remains a mystery.

Yet we’ve somehow heard this story before.

It feels familiar, only now being told in reverse. 

God rested.

The work was done, 

It was the seventh day, 

and it was blessed, 

and it was good.

While the darkness covered his face in the tomb, 

the ruah of God hovered

over the deep abyss of death.

Recreating humanity in a new image. 

Calling forth Light and Life. 

For those who proclaimed him as Lord and Messiah,

their world now felt like a formless void.

It was indeed finished,

but it was not over.

It is only the beginning.

They just couldn’t see it.

It is the seventh day. 

And God-with-us rested.