The Silent Storm
What Jesus Did on Saturday of Holy Week
It was the day after the Lamb was slain. The dust had barely settled around Golgotha, and the city of Jerusalem was wrapped in an eerie stillness. The sky had already gone black the day before. The veil had torn. The earth had quaked. Now, on Saturday, everything was quiet.
But do not mistake silence for inactivity.
Holy Saturday is often ignored, wedged between the horror of Friday and the glory of Sunday. Yet it is here, in the gap between death and resurrection, that something cosmic took place. Heaven watched. Hell trembled. And the King moved.
We read little in the Gospels about what happened on this day. Jesus’ body was in the tomb, the women were waiting to anoint Him, and the disciples were hiding in fear. But if you look with spiritual eyes and listen with the ears of revelation, you will hear the footsteps of a conquering King moving through the underworld, turning the keys in the gates of Death, and proclaiming eternal victory to the imprisoned.
The Sabbath Rest of a King
Let us begin with the obvious. Luke 23 verse 56 says, “On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.” The followers of Jesus, broken and confused, observed the Sabbath. But they did not understand they were living through the most prophetic Sabbath since creation.
On the seventh day, God rested from all His work. After six days of divine labor, after speaking and forming and breathing life into dust, God ceased. He did not rest because He was tired. He rested because the work was finished. And now, thousands of years later, the Son of God, who had just cried out, “It is finished,” entered into the tomb and again fulfilled that same pattern. He, too, rested, not out of weakness, but out of completion.
This is not just a Sabbath. This is the final Sabbath, the true rest that the letter to the Hebrews speaks of. This is not a day of dormancy. It is a declaration that the redemptive work has been accomplished. The sin of Adam, the curse of the law, the accusations of Satan, all had been laid on the Son, and now He rested from the labor of redemption.
But only His body was still. In the spirit, the Lamb who had been slain was on the move.
The Descent Into the Deep
To understand Saturday, you must see beyond the natural. Scripture gives us glimpses. Paul says in Ephesians 4 verse 9, “He also descended into the lower parts of the earth.” Peter adds more in 1 Peter 3 verses 18 to 19, “He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit, in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.”
This descent is not metaphor. Jesus literally went into Sheol, into the realm of the dead. In Jewish understanding, Sheol was the place where all the dead went. It was divided, one side for the wicked, another for the righteous, often referred to as Abraham’s Bosom. This is what Jesus alluded to in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. There was a great chasm separating the two. Before the cross, even the righteous could not ascend to heaven because the blood had not yet been applied. They were held in a kind of spiritual holding chamber, awaiting the Messiah.
And on Holy Saturday, He came for them.
Can you imagine it? The souls of Abraham, David, Moses, and the prophets, those who died in hope, looking forward to a promise they never saw in the natural, suddenly feel the atmosphere shift. A light pierces the gloom of death. And in walks the One they spoke of. The Seed. The Son. The Sacrifice.
He did not come in chains. He came in authority.
The Declaration to the Dead
Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4 verse 6, “The gospel was preached even to those who are dead.” This was not a second chance for the wicked. This was a proclamation to the righteous. Jesus did not go to the underworld to suffer. He went to announce victory.
This was not a whisper. This was a roar. A shout that thundered through the walls of the grave, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life.” The King had arrived, and He had blood on His robe. Not the blood of defeat, but the blood that speaks a better word.
And there is more.
Paul writes in Colossians 2 verse 15, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them.” This happened in the spirit realm. While His body lay in Joseph’s borrowed tomb, Jesus was stripping the enemy of his weapons. The keys to Death and Hades were torn from Satan’s grip. The dominion of sin was broken. The curse was reversed. The serpent’s head was crushed under a bruised heel.
Holy Saturday is the cosmic invasion of darkness. It is the great clash between kingdoms. It is the day the gates of bronze were shattered.
Types and Shadows Fulfilled
All of this was foretold.
Think of Jonah in the belly of the great fish. Jesus Himself said, “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth.” Jonah’s descent was a shadow of Christ’s. Jonah was swallowed for his disobedience. Jesus was swallowed for ours. And both emerged after three days, proclaiming the word of the Lord.
Think of Joseph, thrown into a pit by his brothers and presumed dead, only to rise to a throne and save the nations. Another shadow.
Think of David, who said in Psalm 16 verse 10, “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” Peter preaches this at Pentecost and says David was speaking prophetically of Jesus. Even the Psalms foretold this descent and resurrection.
The entire Old Testament groaned for this day. It was hidden in patterns, in feasts, in rituals, in whispers through the prophets. And now the types and shadows collide with substance. The Lamb had entered the grave. But the grave could not hold Him.
The King of the Underworld
Revelation 1 verse 18 says, “I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Let that settle in your bones. He has the keys. No man takes them from Him. He did not borrow them. He took them. Jesus is not just King of Heaven. He is King over all. Above the earth. On the earth. Under the earth.
This matters, because it means no part of creation is outside His dominion. No realm is too dark. No prison too deep. No tomb too final. When Jesus descended, He brought light into the very womb of death. And when He rose, He did not come alone.
Ephesians 4 verse 8 says, “When He ascended on high, He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” That is resurrection with plunder. That is the spoils of war. He did not just walk out of the grave, He emptied it.
A Silent Day That Shook Eternity
So what did Jesus do on Holy Saturday?
He shattered the silence.
While the earth mourned, hell groaned. While the disciples hid, Satan trembled. While man waited, the cosmos turned.
The King who wore thorns on Friday would wear triumph on Saturday. He who was laid down in death stood up in dominion. And all of creation held its breath because something was about to break loose. Resurrection was coming, but first came the reckoning. The underworld had to bow. Every false power had to submit. Every curse had to be broken. Every captive had to hear the call.
This is the Jesus we preach. Not just the gentle Shepherd. Not just the broken Lamb. But the Conquering King who ransacked hell and took the keys with Him.
So next time Holy Saturday comes, do not overlook it.
Hell did not.
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