Devotion • March 30
Today's Hymn
“Were You There”
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O! Sometimes it causes me to tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
O! Sometimes it causes me to tremble.
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
O! Sometimes it causes me to tremble.
African American spiritual
Hymn 228, Glory to God
Reflection
The African American spiritual “Were You There” beckons us to find our place in the story of Jesus’ final hours. It’s a practice that we have been engaged in all week as we place ourselves in the familiar stories of Jesus’ Passion. Year after year, we put aside our daily routines to take an imaged role in the drama of this Holy Week with the tradition of the church as our guide. We know that palm branches lead to bread and cup, extinguished Tenebrae candles lead to tolling bells, and that eventually we will experience the glory and awe of Easter morning. Each step of the way, we know what’s next.
But today, Holy Saturday, is a bit of a speed bump in our Holy Week devotion, because there is nowhere to place ourselves in the story. The sun is no longer shining. Jesus is in the tomb. There is only silence. In some branches of the church today is known as “The Great Silence.” The phrase is taken from monastic life and refers to the time between the last hour of prayer, when the monks and nuns return to their rooms, and the first hour of prayer, with which they begin the next day. In this “Great Silence” it’s understood as more than just a time for quiet reflection and sleep. Instead, it’s the time when, while we rest, God remains active.
On this day, silence overcomes us. In our silence, we commemorate the silence Jesus Christ undertook — the silence of the tomb. Yet even in that grave quiet, God acts. God is overtaking death with new life and destroying the silence of death forever.
And that silence causes me to tremble.
Prayer
O God, as the nailed and pierced body of Jesus was laid in the tomb and rested in silence on this Holy Day, so we may await with him for the coming of the third day and rise with him to newness of life. Amen.
Written by Shawn Fiedler, Major Gifts Officer
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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