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Holy Saturday
Daily Scripture Passage: John 19:38-42

Burial of the dead is important in many cultures and religions, for it has to do with the dignity and the sanctity of body and bodily existence. The manner with which Joseph and Nicodemus cared for the body of Jesus after his indignant and cruel death is a witness not only to their love and respect for Jesus but also for the sacramental reality of Jesus’ body and, thus, of all human bodies and bodily existences.

Burial of Jesus’ body is an important detail in the Passion story because it attests to Jesus’ full humanity. He died and was buried according to the burial custom of the Jews. The law had to be kept down to the last detail to be fulfilled in Jesus. Without the proper burial of Jesus’ body after death, we have no Gospel as we know it.

Central to Christian theology of salvation is the bodily death and the bodily resurrection of Jesus and our bodily death and bodily resurrection with him. In the prayer of Thanksgiving over the Water of the baptismal rite, the presider says, “In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection” (BCP 306).

This points toward a baptismal life that is transformed and radically new here and now, in which we promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons and respect the dignity of every human being. Black and brown bodies are, thus, no less of the image of God than white bodies. LGBTQ+ bodies are no less of the image of God than straight and cisgender bodies. Where the body is not recognized as holy there can be no holiness of life.