God Rested by Andrew Peterson
So they took His body down
The man who said He was the resurrection and the life
Lifeless on the ground
The sky was red as blood along the blade of night
As the sabbath fell they shrouded Him in linen
They dressed Him like a wound
The rich man and the women
They laid Him in the tomb
So they laid their hopes away
They buried all their dreams about the kingdom He proclaimed
And they sealed them in the grave
As a holy silence fell on all Jerusalem
But the Pharisees were restless
Pilate had no peace
And Peter’s heart was reckless
Mary couldn’t sleep
But God rested…
Six days shall you labor
The seventh is the Lord’s
In six He made the earth and all the heavens
But He rested on the seventh
He said that it was finished
And the seventh day, He blessed it
God rested…

God rested… as Jesus, his own son, was “laid to rest” in death, God himself rested. The lifeless body of our Lord and Savior lay in rest… in complete stillness… no breath, no heartbeat, no blood coursing through his veins… motionless and quiet in death. And, because it was the Sabbath day he had ordained from the dawn of Creation, God rested.

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

Our salvation lies in the quiet rest of God. Even in the very moment that split all of human time and existence in two (BC/AD), God rested and by implication, Jesus did too. Sabbath was meant for rest. Even God himself did not break Sabbath to resurrect his own Son! But Sabbath sets on Saturday evening… and Jesus didn’t rise until Sunday morning…

…The sun went down… the sabbath faded
The holy day was done and all creation waited…

This is the moment that all creation held its breath. As the sun faded over the horizon on Saturday, the sabbath day of rest had ended, but it wasn’t yet Sunday morning! We can only guess what happened from the setting of the sun on that ­­sabbath to the rising of the sun on that “greatest of all gettin’ up mornings,” but somewhere, sometime, between that day of rest and the day we celebrate as Resurrection, his heart began to beat and his lungs filled with breath once more.

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.
And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Revelation 1:18

Have you ever considered that moment when Jesus’ lungs again—for the second time in his life here on earth—filled with air once more? Was it a slow awakening or a violent gasp? We will never know. Yet, somewhere in the darkness of that night and the even greater darkness of a sealed tomb, his lungs and heart came back to life.

His Heart Beats by Andrew Peterson
His heart beats, His blood begins to flow
Waking up what was dead a moment ago
And His heart beats, now everything is changed
‘Cause the blood that brought us peace with God
Is racing through His veins
And His heart beats, His heart beats
He breathes in, His living lungs expand
The heavy air surrounding death turns to breath again
He breathes out, He is word and flesh once more
The Lamb of God slain for us is a Lion ready to roar
And His heart beats

Scripture (1 Pet 4:6; Eph 4:9) and Christian tradition indicate that some time in the “silence” of Holy Saturday, Jesus plunged into the depths of hell where he defeated the ruler of this world, took the keys to the Kingdom, and preached the saving gospel to the righteous who had died before his atoning death on the cross. If we consider the notion that the Father observed the day of rest and Jesus laid in death’s motionless rest until the sunset on Sabbath, then Jesus had a mere 10-12 hours before the sun rose that Sunday morning! It sure sounds like he was busy… busy setting things right in this broken, chaotic and distorted world! Jesus, the son of Mary, the very son of Eve, the SOON-TO-BE-RESURRECTED Son of God, tread upon the head of the vile serpent (Gen 3:15)—the serpent who had spoken lies into the ear of God’s beautiful creation many thousands of years before, and a hundred million times since. The father of lies defeated!

Dr. Curt Thompson speaks of this theological tradition of Christ plunging into the depths of hell to preach the gospel message in his August 24, 2021 podcast Being Known: That’s a Wrap. He speaks of this verse found in 1^st Peter upon which the tradition has its theological underpinnings:

But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. 1 Peter 4:5-6 ESV

Thompson goes on to say,
“…Jesus preached to the dead. And what this tells us is that there is no part of our history that he’s not coming for. The parts of our lives that we thought were dead –he’s preaching to them and he’s asking them, he’s telling them to wake up because he’s got beauty and goodness waiting for you. …And there’s no stone we’re going to leave unturned. I’m coming for all of it.”

Christ speaking to all the dead places in our lives… all the events and memories that we’d rather leave dead and buried in the tombs of our pasts… those are the places Jesus won’t let rest. His blood poured out and body broken in order to bring his resurrecting, redeeming and restorative power to bear on the broken places of our lives. It is where our ashes become beauty, where our torn rags of mourning are traded for beautiful garments of praise, and where the lies spoken to us are trumped by a crown of glory and truth!!

His Heart Beats (con’t)
The last enemy to be destroyed is death
Christ must reign until no enemy is left
The last enemy to be destroyed, to be destroyed is death
His heart beats, He will never die again
I know that death no longer has dominion over Him
So my heart beats with the rhythm of the saints
As I look for the seeds the King has sown
To burst up from their graves
I know, I know
He took one breath and put death to death
Where is your sting, O grave?
How grave is your defeat
How great, how great is His victory
I know, I know His heart beats
His heart beats
So crown Him the Lord of Life
Crown Him the Lord of Love
Crown Him the Lord of All
He took one breath and put death to death
Where is your sting, O grave?
How grave is your defeat
I know, I know His heart beats
He rises, glorified in flesh
Clothed in immortality, the firstborn from the dead
He rises, and His work’s already done
So He’s resting as He rises to reclaim the Bride He won
And His heart beats…

Like Jesus, from a place of Sabbath rest, we can move with Christ’s in resurrection power with humility and obedience as we bow our knees and hearts in reverence, our lives an offering to our Resurrected King Jesus. Let his heart beat in yours!

May the blessings of this Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday be upon you, Jody

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Jody Thomae is an embodied spiritual director and hosts retreats through her ministry Rooted & Reaching Embodied Care. She is a graduate of Ashland Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing a doctorate in spiritual formation and relational neuroscience with a focus on embodiment and trauma-informed care at Western Theological Seminary. Her passion is for the person of Jesus Christ to be made more real through the revelation of creativity, embodiment and worship. Enjoy other Bible studies at here. If you’d like to learn more about embodying your spiritual life consider joining Jody at Rooted & Reaching Lakeside studio on the shores of Pleasant Hill Lake in North Central Ohio for a Rooted & Reaching Embodied Care (RREC) REtreat or the RREC Christian Embodiment Training. Sign up here to be notified of retreats, trainings and workshops geared towards creativity, embodiment and spirituality.