{"id":524,"date":"2007-04-07T08:03:53","date_gmt":"2007-04-07T08:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2007\/04\/great-saturday.html"},"modified":"2007-04-07T08:03:53","modified_gmt":"2007-04-07T08:03:53","slug":"great-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2007\/04\/great-saturday.html","title":{"rendered":"Great Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Great Saturday our focus is on the Tomb of Christ. This is no
\nordinary grave. It is not a place of corruption, decay and defeat. It
\nis life-giving a source of power, victory and liberation.<\/p>\n

\n
O
\nhappy tomb! It received within itself the Creator, as one asleep, and
\nit was made a divine treasury of life, for our salvation who sing: O
\nGod our Deliverer, blessed art Thou. <\/dd>\n
The Life of all submits to be laid in the tomb,
\naccording to the law of the dead, and He makes it a source of
\nawakening, for our salvation who sing: O God our Deliverer, blessed art
\nThou. <\/dd>\n
(Hymns of the 7th Ode)\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Great
\nSaturday is the day between Jesus\u2019 death and His resurrection. It is
\nthe day of watchful expectation, in which mourning is being transformed
\ninto joy. The day embodies in the fullest possible sense a
\njoyful-sadness, which has dominated the celebrations of Great Week.<\/p>\n

Great Saturday is the day of the pre-eminent rest. Christ observes a
\nSabbath rest in the tomb. His rest, however, is not inactivity but the
\nfulfillment of the divine will and plan for the salvation of humankind
\nand the cosmos. He who brought all things into being, makes all things
\nnew. The recreation of the world has been accomplished once and for
\nall. Through His incarnation, life and death Christ has filled all
\nthings with Himself. He has opened a path for all flesh to the
\nresurrection from the dead, since it was not possible that the author
\nof life would be dominated by corruption.<\/p>\n

\n
Moses
\nthe great mystically prefigured this present day, saying: "And God
\nblessed the seventh day." For this is the blessed Sabbath, this is the
\nday of rest, on which the only-begotten Son of God rested from all His
\nworks. Suffering death in accordance with the plan of salvation, He
\nkept the Sabbath in the flesh; and returning once again to what He was,
\nthrough His Resurrection He has granted us eternal life, for He alone
\nis good and loves mankind. <\/dd>\n
(Hymn of the Ainoi)\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Great Saturday our focus is on the Tomb of Christ. This is no ordinary grave. It is not a place of corruption, decay and defeat. It is life-giving a source of power, victory and liberation. O happy tomb! It received within itself the Creator, as one asleep, and it was made a divine treasury…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-swaziland"],"yoast_head":"\nGreat Saturday - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2007\/04\/great-saturday.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Great Saturday - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Great Saturday our focus is on the Tomb of Christ. This is no ordinary grave. It is not a place of corruption, decay and defeat. It is life-giving a source of power, victory and liberation. O happy tomb! 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. 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