Holy Saturday a Sermon by St. Peter

It was my first Easter outside of Adventism and everything was strange. Someone had invited me to Holy Saturday services. I thought that was going to be weird, "Sunday keepers" going to church on Sabbath. All things seemed topsy-turvy. But I went. It was an Episcopalian Church. Very beautiful, very old. In fact, our first president was said to have worshipped there when he was a 16-year-old surveyor for Virginia. But as I sat down among all the people, things were about to get older… much older. The Protestant pastor began to read an ancient sermon and the more he read, the more my mouth opened in shock. I almost wanted to shake my head and way myself up. The pastor claimed that this was one of the Apostle Peter's first sermons. And it was a doozy… actually, for a former Seventh-day Adventist, it was absolutely unbelievable.  A sermon of St. Peter that wasn't in the Bible? Could it be true? Why hadn't I heard of the sermon? I had to talk to the pastor about this. So I waited as he shook everyone's hand after church and then approached him with my questions. Sure enough, this sermon had been read in Christian Holy Saturday services for as long as the church has records. It was indeed the most ancient sermon we have outside of scripture. And all accounts are that Peter himself gave it on one of the early Holy Saturday services.  I still am awed by what the sermon actually says. I hope you will be just as moved as I was. The sermon is posted here: The Lord's descent into hell "What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled. Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.  He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son. The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. ‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise. ‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person. ‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden. ‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image. 'See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one. I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you. ‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God. "The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages." A reading from an ancient homily for Holy Saturday Prayer Almighty, ever-living God, whose Only-begotten Son descended to the realm of the dead, and rose from there to glory, grant that your faithful people, who were buried with him in baptism, may, by his resurrection, obtain eternal life. (We make our prayer) through our Lord. (Through Christ our Lord.) Prepared by Pontifical University Saint Thomas Aquinas http://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20010414_omelia-sabato-santo_en.html

The Sabbath: More Important than Adventists Even Know

Holy Saturday, the Final Sabbath: An Anti-type of the Death of Christ


Christians have been commemorating the last Sabbath since the beginning. Only, instead of observing the Jewish weekly Sabbath as a command, Holy Saturday is a yearly Christian tradition to remember Christ in the tomb during the passion week, the day before Christians celebrate the resurrection. It is said that St. Peter, prince of the Apostles, gave the first Holy Saturday sermon and we still have copies of that sermon passed down to our time. Some of this ancient sermon is recorded here:

"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.”

The last Sabbath Christ spent in the tomb. His body rested in death. And its importance is vastly more than a day. This Sabbath, the Sabbath of salvation, was prophesied all the way back at creation. 

The meaning of Sabbath slowly unfolded through time as recorded in scripture. Let's return to the Creation story and the first day of rest.

Genesis: The Seventh Day

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Gen. 2: 1-3

God rested on the seventh day. Our Creator needs no rest, for He is spirit. His rest, in fact, was not for Himself but to show us that one day He would rest again. His first rest pointed to another rest in the future. 

This seventh day of creation week was unlike any of the other days, for the scripture records each day with a evening and a morning. The first six days had an opening and a closing. Each day began with the light dimming (evening) and ended with the light dawning (morning). 

Only with a cycle of both darkness and light was there a complete day. With the evening and the morning, it was finished. But, in the creation account, the seventh day had no external boundaries. It had no beginning and end like the other days. The seventh day rest day was not finished. That was for a very important purpose. To find the purpose of the open-ended seventh day of creation we need to know what a seven day cycle meant.

The Seven Day Cycle

Sevens in scripture point to cycles of completion. The seventh in all cycles signals the end, the finish of whatever was taking place. Whether it was a week, a time period for healing or taking a vow, often the Bible speaks of a seven day cycle. When the ceremonial cycle of seven was finished, another cycle began. 

So in creation, God began a cycle of seven days that didn’t quite end. The seventh day did not complete the cycle of both evening and morning. 

The creation week ended... but not quite, for the seventh day rest began but never ended. In a sense we can say the seventh day began with the evening but there was no record of the cycle being completed. As if God was saying, “The morning has not yet come.” The cycle of God’s physical creation ended, the heavens and earth were done... yet, the rest He began was not finished. 

There was something more....

God rested the seventh day, a rest that was not yet completed... 

Then this rest began to unfold in Israel's history.

Introduction of the Sabbath Rest

In Exodus 16, the newly freed people of God were tested in the wilderness to see if they would obey God. The test was the manna. One day a week, at the end of a cycle of seven, manna would cease falling from the heavens. The bread of angels would rest. On this day of Sabbath rest or “ceasing” Israel was not to work nor to even go outside (Ex. 16:29), as if Sabbath was kind of a rest of death. In fact, Israel was commanded not even to light a light! They were to stay inside their tents as if they were in a tomb.

Then more rules were added:
No gathering, no working.
Stay inside.
Slaves rest.
Animals rest.
All Israel was commanded to cease.

Almost as if Israel was playing out a part of death by this Sabbath rest.

This rest was a sign for Israel, it pointed back to the seventh day of creation. That same seventh day that wasn’t quite finished. That day of evening and yet no morning, when God rested. 

Israel was given a test of resting, almost as if the test was joining God in His resting of creation. A rest that seemed like a death. No light. Stay in tent. No work. Total rest, like death.

In fact, if you did not cease from all work and stay inside your tent and complete the command of a seventh-day rest, God commanded your own physical death. (Ex. 35:3)

The end of this cycle of sevens was holy. To profane the sign of God’s rest at creation, meant physical death. As Israel wandered in the wilderness awaiting the promised land, Sabbath was not a day to go out at look at nature. It was not a day to enjoy. It was a solemn rest, just as if it were a preparation for Israel’s death. 

So to recap: Sabbath (rest/ceasing) ends a seven day cycle of completion before a new cycle begins. This rest of God did not end at Creation. Something wasn't complete. And a similar rest, given to Israel, remembered the open-ended rest of creation and also resembled death. Could these Sabbaths be a Old Testament antitype of Christ's death?

The Sabbath Death

All those endless cycle of sevens for the people of God which ended in a ceasing, a night without end, a rest that never seemed to complete itself. These cycles started over again each week, each seven years, and each seven/sevens of years (the Jubilee). There was never an eighth day. 

The eighth day in scripture means a new beginning. The eighth day was also a prophecy of the first day of a new heaven and a new earth. An eighth day would mean the end of the old cycle and a new would begin. 

Okay, think about this: since Israel was given all these cycles of sevens ending with a Sabbath rest, could they not have some ceremonial significance that pointed to Christ? After all, many of the ceremonies, like the Passover, the sin offerings, the Exodus that were indeed Messianic prophecies. 

Could not this cycle of seven, ending in a Sabbath rest (that resembled death) point as a sign to the Savior and the rest He was bringing? 

Many would agree it was. However now add to that sign of Messianic rest with the creation open-ended seventh day.

God’s rest at creation began but was not finished until He would rest in the tomb. The first seventh day rest would culminate in the last seventh-day rest on that Great and Holy Saturday when Christ would enter the tomb. As an ancient writer (perhaps even St. Peter himself) spoke about this Great and Holy Sabbath:

“Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps...Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep.... He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son. The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross.  ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: 

Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise. ‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you. ‘But arise, let us go hence.’ “ (From ancient homily, “For Holy Saturday: The Lord’s Descent into Hell,” http://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20010414_omelia-sabato-santo_en.html).

Holy Saturday Proclaimed, “It Is Finished!”


God’s rest at creation began but was not finished until He had conquered both Heaven and Hell, both the seen and the unseen, the physical creation and the spiritual creation. With the Sabbath rest of Holy Saturday, God’s rest was finally complete. It was finished. All those Sabbaths Israel was figuratively in the tomb with Christ, pointed to the ultimate fulfillment of the end of the cycle of sin. The end of the seven of sin, the seventh day was finally over. Now with the dawn of the eighth day, the evening of the seventh day was finished! The morning and the true light had come in Jesus. Our Messiah. Our Christ. Our Savior.

Sabbath was to proclaim (as a sign) what God was going doing for us through His rest--begun at creation. He was going to suffer the depths of the underworld, the tomb, the dark rest of no light, just as the sabbaths commanded for Israel.

Now a new heaven and a new earth has come. The cycle of sin is over and the Sabbath of death has been fulfilled. We continue to remember the Sabbath, that great commandment of God for the Jews, only we do it now through the lens of the New Covenant. We now commemorate Holy Saturday once a year (as a Christian tradition) as it takes us to the completion of the seven-day cycle of creation.

And now we remember that then, as Holy Saturday’s tomb trembled the rest of death is over. The curse is lifted and sin has been conquered. 

We are now living a new cycle and its day of commemoration isn’t the tomb, but the SUN RISE!! THE MORNING HAS COME! With Christ’s resurrection, the cycle of creation was completed and now a new kind of rest was brought in. No longer a physical rest, but a rest in the completion of Christ’s salvation.   


The Sabbath was Israel's sign that the Messiah would fulfill the law and the prophets by His death and entombment and finish the long cycle of unaccomplished rest. They entered the prophecy of the tomb by ceasing their labor each Sabbath. 

Christ was bringing in the New Covenant rest that was to be found in Him. "Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." And Christ entered the tomb and the final Sabbath was finished.


Morning has broken and we are living in a new day and a new creation. A day of life. A cycle of morning and the Son that will never end.