DEAD, BUT NOT DORMANT

“Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior! Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!” So, tomorrow, we will sing and celebrate, “Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes!” 

Yet, what of that in-between time, when His body was sealed in the sepulcher?  Peter tells us that though His crucified body was in a tomb, His spirit was very much alive and active, (1 Pet. 3:18). Christ was dead, but not dormant.

The Bible does not teach, “soul sleep.”  Paul said, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord,” (2 Cor.‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬‬).  Neither was Jesus in a state of unconsciousness between His death and resurrection. 

The Old Testament term for the world of the dead is Sheol and the New Testament word is Hades. According to the story our Lord told of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, there were two areas where the souls of the dead would dwell: “torment” for the wicked and “Abraham’s bosom” (figurative language for “paradise”). Recall that Jesus promised the dying thief, “today you will be with Me in Paradise,” (Lk. 23:43). Thus, when Jesus died physically, He was alive spiritually—closing His eyes on Calvary, He opened them in Paradise. He was dead, but not dormant.

What did He do during that time?  We know that in Sheol/Hades there is “a great gulf fixed,” so that none can cross over from perdition to paradise or vice versa, (Lk. 16:26), yet they can converse as we hear the rich man in torment crying out to “Father Abraham,” for a drop of water to be brought to him by Lazarus, (Lk. 16:24) and Abraham responds to him with the impossibility of that. They communicate with each other. Jesus was spiritually in paradise with the repentant thief that very day as He promised. He was there and “preached to the spirits in prison,” (1 Pet. 3:19). 

This was not an evangelistic sermon. The decision of where we will spend eternity is made in this lifetime—with no “second chance” after death. It was in this case a proclamation “to the spirits in prison, who were formerly disobedient…in the days of Noah.”  In torment, these fallen demons were locked away in a special prison. Peter would add this in his second epistle, “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;” (2:4). The Greek word for “hell” is Tartarus, the name of that special compartment in torment for these wicked demons to be imprisoned. 

Jude speaks of them also, “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;”(Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬‬).

It is my understanding that these demons in some fashion inhabited human form and were used by Satan—the Prince of Demons—to corrupt the human race by sexual relations with human women in Noah’s day, (cf. Gen. 6:1-8). The Serpent had been told after he seduced Adam and Eve in the Garden, “ ‘And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.’ ” (Gen.‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬‬). If the Devil could corrupt “the daughters of men,” (Gen. 6:1), then there would be no seed of woman to crush his head!  It would have worked, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD,” (Gen. 6:8).

Satan persisted in attempts to fully corrupt the nation of Israel and thus no Messiah would be born. Yet, God always had a remnant of believers. Even, when Messiah came, the Devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Yet, Christ remained sinless and on the cross, though the Seed of woman had His heel bruised—the Lord’s suffering and physical death—by that means, crushed the Serpent’s head!

So, Christ descended into the realm of the dead and proclaimed His victory over the Devil and his demonic hordes!

As bad as this sermon was for the imprisoned demons, it was glorious for the people of God in paradise. You see, the Old Testament saints were saved by faith in Christ just like we are—Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and all the redeemed (cf. Heb. 11).  They were saved by looking ahead to Christ’s atoning work on the cross, whereas we look back to it. Those saved in the Old Testament were saved by “the lay-away plan.”  You know how you find a Christmas gift for someone, so you don’t want it reserved. It is put in lay-away, until the price is paid, and then you possess it. So, the Old Testament saints went to paradise, or “Abraham’s bosom,” so to speak, until Christ would pay the price of their redemption. After His resurrection, and His ascension, He would empty that compartment in Hades and take the souls of those Old Testament believers to Heaven and into the presence of the Father. “Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.’ (Now this, ‘He ascended’—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)” (Eph. ‭4‬:‭8‬-‭10‬‬). 

He was dead, but not dormant!

THE SUCCESSFUL SERVANT

“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. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah‬ ‭53:10-12‬‬)

First the cross and then the crown. There is suffering and then there is glory. The story of Jesus does not end with tragedy, but triumph. Indeed, He suffered greatly, but He will reign supremely!  Isaiah concludes this marvelous prophecy of Christ by pointing to the resurrection, ascension, and return of Christ.

His resurrection is inferred in “He shall see His seed.”  Yet, Jesus died without being married or having children. But, His death would make it possible for sinners to become children of God, and because He arose, He would see the fruit of His suffering!  “He shall prolong His days,” in that death could not keep him; the grave could not hold Him. He lives forevermore!

His ascension is implied in how “By His knowledge My Righteous Servant shall justify many,”—that is, knowing Christ today justifies us before God. Not only are our past sins taken care of, but any additional failings, for He “made intercession for the transgressors.”  The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is not just the sacrifice for sin in His death, but in His ascension back to heaven, He is our High Priest who, “always lives to make intercession for [us].” (7:25).

His return is seen in dividing “a portion with the great,” and “the spoil with the strong.”  The spoils of victory are those won by a conquering King. At His second coming, Christ will overthrow all opposition and claim universal dominion. He will share all the wealth of the universe with His Bride, the church, as He reigns in power and glory!

Whose side are you on?  As a follower of Christ, I am assured of being on the winning side!

MARCH ON!

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. ”

And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit.

When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.

“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

(Matthew 26;30, 39, 57; 27:2, 31, 50, 59-60; 28:6-7, 16; Acts 1:9-11)

Jesus left the Upper Room following the institution of the Lord’s Supper—crossing the Kidron Valley and up the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane.  Knowing what He was going to face, He did not hesitate. March on Jesus!  March on!

Into the garden, He left the disciples to pray—and instead, they slept—so He prayed alone, wrestling as He would drink the cup.  Might it be avoided?  No, for this cause He came.  March on Jesus!  March on!

The violent mobbed seized Him.  Peter whipped out his sword to fight for Him, but He could have summoned the legions of heaven to rescue Him.  But, He surrendered Himself—the Holy One in the bloody hands of those brutes.  March on Jesus!  March on!

Marched to trial before the religious and government authorities—a kangaroo court—yet He did not protest, a Lamb led to the slaughter. Brutally beaten and cruelly mocked, yet He did not flee.  March on Jesus!  March on!

Shouldering the cross:

Up Calv’ry’s mountain, one dreadful morn,
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn;
Facing for sinners death on a cross,
That He might save them from endless loss. (Avis Christiansen)

March on Jesus!  March on!

And so He was nailed to that cross—suffering as none had ever suffered, paying the excruciating price of all sins of all men of all time, that we who received Him might be forgiven.  He went where no one else could go—marching to the gates of hell—and declaring His victory over the demonic realm.  He crushed the serpent’s head!  March on Jesus!  March on!

Out of the grave, He walked!  Conqueror over death, hell, and the grave—nail-scarred feet strode from the tomb in triumph!  No stone could seal His grave.  No guards could prevent His exit.  March on Jesus!  March on!

He walked among men, the Lord of Glory for forty more days until He met the disciples on the Mount of Olives again, where He would commission His church and depart through the clouds—and on to heaven itself.  What a reception He received as He returned from His mission now accomplished—on to the throne of His Father, and reunion!  March on Jesus!  March on!

And the promise is that the very place where His feet last touched the ground, will once more be the place where they will touch down—maybe very soon—and He will seize the scepter of universal dominion, treading all His foes beneath those blessed feet.  Lord, hasten that day!  March on Jesus!  March on!