God is Dead

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us?” These words, spoken by a madman in Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Gay Science, are a powerful way for us to focus our attention on Holy Saturday. Christ has died. Christ is dead. The resurrection lies only on a horizon of hope. Yet it is significant that today would also be the Sabbath for Jesus. The work of love was done on Friday, today he enters the rest of God, tomorrow (which according to the Jewish understanding of time begins after sundown tonight) Christ comes to finish the work of conquering evil and death with love. So now we wait, blood on our hands, with the realization we have rejected love beyond all. Today sit by the body, realize what you have done, pray for resurrection and redemption. The greatness of this deed is in fact too great for us.