Holy Week | Holy Saturday 30 Mar 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O God, Creator of heaven and earth:
Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son
was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath,
so we may await with him the coming of the third day,
and rise with him to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
So [the Chief Priests and Pharisees] went to secure the tomb.
They placed a seal on the stone
and posted the soldiers on guard duty.
(Matthew 27:66)
__________
Reading from the OT: Job 14:1-14 (GW)
Job Continues: Consider My Frail Human Nature, God
14:1 “A person who is born of a woman is short-lived and is full of trouble.
He comes up like a flower; then he withers.
He is like a fleeting shadow; he doesn’t stay long.
You observe this
and call me to account to you.
“If only an unclean person could become clean!
It’s not possible.
If the number of his days
and the number of his months are determined by you,
and you set his limit,
then he cannot go past it.
Look away from him, and he will cease to be.
Meanwhile, he loves life as a laborer loves work.
There is hope for a tree when it is cut down.
It will sprout again.
Its shoots will not stop sprouting.
If its roots grow old in the ground
and its stump dies in the soil,
merely a scent of water will make it sprout
and grow branches like a plant.
But a human dies and is powerless.
A person breathes his last breath, and where is he?
⌞As⌟ water drains out of a lake,
or ⌞as⌟ a river dries up completely,
so each person lies down
and does not rise until the heavens cease to exist.
He does not wake up.
He is not awakened from his sleep.
I wish you would hide me in Sheol
and keep me hidden there until your anger cools.
Set a specific time for me when you will remember me.
“If a person dies, will he go on living?
I will wait for my relief to come
as long as my hard labor continues.
__________
From the Psalms: Psalm 130 – Poor Bishop Hooper
out of the depths i cry to you oh lord
hear my voice let your ears hear my cry
if you oh lord kept a record of wrong
who could stand oh my god who could stand
but with you there is forgiveness
therefore you you are feared
wait for the lord oh my soul waits
and in his word only do i put my hope
my soul waits for the lord more than the watchmen
wait for the bright morning to come
israel hope in the lord
he himself will redeem
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Reading from the NT Letters: 1 Peter 4:1-8 (GW)
4:1 Since Christ has suffered physically, take the same attitude that he had. (A person who has suffered physically no longer sins.) That way you won’t be guided by sinful human desires as you live the rest of your lives on earth. Instead, you will be guided by what God wants you to do. You spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers like to do. You were promiscuous, had sinful desires, got drunk, went to wild parties, and took part in the forbidden worship of false gods. Unbelievers insult you now because they are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of wild living. They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. After all, the Good News was told to people like that, although they are now dead. It was told to them so that they could be judged like humans in their earthly lives and live like God in their spiritual lives.
The end of everything is near. Therefore, practice self-control, and keep your minds clear so that you can pray. Above all, love each other warmly, because love covers many sins.
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Reading from the Gospels: Matthew 27:57-66 (GW)
Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb
27:57 In the evening a rich man named Joseph arrived. He was from the city of Arimathea and had become a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. Then he laid it in his own new tomb, which had been cut in a rock. After rolling a large stone against the door of the tomb, he went away. Mary from Magdala and the other Mary were sitting there, facing the tomb.
The Chief Priests and Pharisees Secure Jesus’ Tomb
27:62 The next day, which was the day of rest—a holy day, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together and went to Pilate. They said, “Sir, we remember how that deceiver said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be brought back to life.’ Therefore, give the order to make the tomb secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been brought back to life.’ Then the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate told them, “You have the soldiers you want for guard duty. Go and make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
So they went to secure the tomb. They placed a seal on the stone and posted the soldiers on guard duty.
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The Lord’s Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019
+ Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
+ Give us this day our daily bread.
+ And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those a who trespass against us.
+ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.
Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 