Good Friday is over and the Sabbath has begun. Yesterday, he was crucified. Tomorrow, he rises from the grave.
After His crucifixion, Jesus was laid in a nearby tomb, and His body remained there the entirety of Saturday (Matthew 27:59-60; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53-54; John 19:39-42).
The disciples had scattered when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:50), and they spent Saturday hiding for fear of also being arrested (John 20:19). The day between Christ’s crucifixion and His resurrection would have been a time of grief and shock as the stunned disciples tried to understand the murder of Jesus, the betrayal of Judas, and the dashing of their hopes.
Jesus is in the tomb, which is sealed by stone and heavily guarded by Roman soldiers.
Jesus predicted, “Like Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days, the Son of Man will be in the earth for three days.” (Matthew 12:40)
“The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.” Matthew 27:62–66