GOOD NEWS FROM THE GRAVE
“Through baptism into His death we were buried with Him.” –Romans 6:4; see also Colossians 2:12
The only thing we know Jesus did while He was buried is “that He went to preach to the spirits in prison” (1 Pt 3:19). “The reason the gospel was preached even to the dead was that, although condemned in the flesh in the eyes of men, they might live in the spirit in the eyes of God” (1 Pt 4:6). At the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus stated that what He had “come to do” was to “proclaim the good news” (Mk 1:38). Even after His death, when His body was in the tomb, in the Spirit Jesus proclaimed the good news even to the dead. If we are to live our Baptism and share fully in Jesus, including His burial, we must proclaim the good news and “stay with this task” (2 Tm 4:2) “in season and out of season” (2 Tm 4:2, RSV-CE).
What does the Lord want us to do on Holy Saturday? Should we shop, work, or watch TV? Let’s evangelize the “living dead” (1 Jn 3:14) and witness to the good news of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8).
PRAYER: Father, compel me by love (2 Cor 5:14; 1 Cor 9:16) to lead as many people as possible to new life in Jesus (see 1 Cor 9:19).
