"Low in the grave he lay, waiting the coming day."

Hymn: “Low in the Grave He Lay” – Words and Music by Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
Tune: CHRIST AROSE

I don’t usually post a hymnline on Saturday, but since it’s Holy Week, I thought maybe I should… or would!

I’ve always been sort of fascinated with this day dubbed “Black Saturday” by some. Officially, it’s “Holy Saturday,” but for me it’s kind of a what-the-heck-was-going-on day. We have nothing recorded in Scripture about that day’s events; I suppose the silence of the writers is there because the day was likely filled with great grief… one of those Jewish wakes like Jesus encountered at the tomb of Lazarus – paid mourners and all.

However, I think there was some genuine grief going on among the F.O.J. (Followers of Jesus), especially those closest to the center of his ministry. The conversations must have been much like we ministers have heard upon visiting the home of a recently unexpectedly-deceased church member. “I can’t believe this is happening.” “What are we going to do now?” “Our lives are just falling apart.”

This is NOT my favorite Easter hymn, mainly because in my growing-up years, we sang the first eight measures dismally slow and cranked up the tempo and dynamics when we hit the refrain. I came to appreciate it more when I was in charge of the speed and the volume!

But the first two pre-Easter stanzas are appropriate for today, describing the state of being of Jesus and the seemingly futile activity of the followers:
    1.  Low in the grave he lay, waiting the coming day.
    2.  Vainly they watch his bed. Vainly they seal the dead.

Everyone in the story had to wait. And that is all we can do today. That’s what we’ve been doing all week… all during the Lenten season for that matter. It doesn’t even seem ‘right’ to rehearse resurrection music during this week, much less have a premature celebration of victory over death! We need to let the darkness of this week settle in; we need to wrestle with the realities of the bleak mid-spring in order to truly rejoice in the light of Easter morning.

Today doesn’t have to be a downer, but let’s don’t put the cart before the horse… or the rolling stone before the moss-covered grave site. All we can do today is wait… and anticipate tomorrow.

[After what I’ve just said, I am purposely NOT routing you toward listening to this hymn!]