Saturday

The sixteenth song from the Book of Psalms (v.10)
For You will not leave My soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

The book of the prophet Isaiah (53:9-10)
And they made His grave with the wicked— but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

The Gospel according to John (19:38-42) and Matthew (27:62-65)
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.' Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.' So the last deception will be worse than the first."
Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how."

The first letter from Paul to the Corinthians (15:14,17,19)
And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Homily
In the lives of the original followers of Jesus, this is the darkest day they would ever know. They did not remember His words that He would raise from the dead. They record about themselves in the Scripture's record that they grieved the previous day's tragedy without expectation of any hope. His enemies posted guards to prevent any attempt to falsify His resurrection. Only two "secret" disciples risked their reputation to place Jesus in an unused tomb. Little did they know that Jesus would only be borrowing it. He would not be needing it long.

Prayer ...

Postscript
The Revelation of Jesus Christ as given to John (1:17-18)
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Tomorrow morning's "Contemplation" will be found in your local church, for the story does not end in the cemetery (nor does ours!).