Saturday of the Great Light reading

Romans 5:1-11
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access (by faith) to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Praise be to God always.
Matthew 27:62-66
The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, ‘After three days I will be raised up.’ Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ This last imposture would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can.” So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard. This is the Truth. Peace be with you.

How is it that the chief priests remember Jesus’ talk of resurrection but the apostles do not? Why can people look to their own advantage and remember while the others look to their own advantage and forget? The chief priests and Pharisees act out of fear or out of malice and are able to keep vigil at the tomb (via a proxy of guards) while the Christians hide. The apostles who traveled the world, who preached in the presence of kings, who were martyred out of love, whose zeal reached to the ends of the earth were afraid because they did not have the hope of the resurrection. We can take hope not in their fear, but in their transformation. We who are afraid, we who are weak, we who live as if there were no resurrection can be transformed by the power of the resurrection, even if today we are living in the uncertainty of Saturday of the great light. Christ can transform us and raise us from the death of fear.