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It’s Day 89!!
The last couple of days we talked about Christ’s trial
He was Crucified
He offered Himself
Yesterday we talked about how Christ was the Sacrifice
His whole life is an offering to the Father
His Sacrifice substitutes OUR disobedience with HIS obedience
We get to participate in His Sacrifice
The next thing to note is that Jesus ACTUALLY DIED
Have you ever thought about that?
What is it to say that Jesus DIED?
Jesus was SINLESS
He did not experience ORIGINAL SIN
One of the consequences of Original Sin was DEATH
AND YET…
He didn’t NEED to experience death
BUT…
Because He united Himself SO FULLY to us and loves us SO FULLY He not only entered into SUFFERING
He not only entered into NEAR-DEATH
He actually ENTERED INTO DEATH
With a couple of notable exceptions…
The big one is THE RESURRECTION
The second one is that even when Jesus died…
(SQUIRREL!! 😉)
Death is the separation of body and soul
When Jesus experienced death He RETAINED POSSESSION OF HIS BODY
When Jesus experienced death He RETAINED POSSESSION OF HIS SOUL
Does that make any sense to you?
It is one of those MYSTERIES
GOD DID NOT HAVE TO EXPERIENCE DEATH!!
GOD WILLED TO EXPERIENCE DEATH!!
So as to enter into the DEPTHS of what we experience
Tomorrow we will talk about how JESUS DESCENDED INTO HELL
WHAT IS THAT??
Today we get to note this INCREDIBLE LOVE OF GOD
Not only offering Himself as a Sacrifice
BUT…
Going so far to hold onto that union with humanity
EVEN IN DEATH!!
He didn’t have to do ANY OF THIS
It’s worth pausing for a moment and saying, “Gosh, Lord! Thank you. You did not have to do any of this. You did this out of love for me and out of obedience to the Father.”
So let’s say a prayer!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Jesus Christ, you are the Redeemer. You are the Savior of the world. You are the Offering for sin. And you are the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. To accomplish your Father’s plan, you allowed death to overwhelm you. To accomplish your Father’s plan, you entered into death. You descended into Hell. To accomplish your Father’s plan, you rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven. To accomplish your Father’s plan, you sent the Holy Spirit into our lives. Lord God, we thank you and praise you. We just give you every good gift because you are the giver of every good gift. We give you all praise. All glory belongs to you. All of our hearts belong to you. All of our love goes to you. Help us to love you the way you deserve. In your holy name, Jesus. Amen”
There we have it!!
It’s a short little section today
BUT…
POWERFUL!!
Here is something maybe many of us have never really considered
What is it to say that Jesus has died?
Paragraph 624 says, “‘By the grace of God’ Jesus tasted death ‘for everyone.’ In his plan of salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only ‘die for our sins’ but should also ‘taste death,’ experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body…”
THAT IS REMARKABLE!!
Paragraph 624 continues, “It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, reveals God’s great sabbath rest after the fulfillment of man’s salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe.”
IT IS POETIC!!
IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!
IT IS POWERFUL!!
Remember the Sabbath is Saturday
At the end of 6 days of work, God rests on the Sabbath
BUT…
This NEW great work of God…
This NEW great work of Salvation…
God rests on the Sabbath
He descends into Hell on the Sabbath
Paragraph 624 says, “[it] reveals God’s great sabbath rest…”
This is a reference to The Letter to the Hebrews 4:7-9
It reminds us all that what God is doing IS NOT RANDOM
IT IS NOT ARBITRARY!!
IT IS SO FITTING!!
IT IS SO INTENTIONAL!!
It is an INCREDIBLE SIGN of not only God’s love for us
BUT…
OF GOD’S INCREDIBLE WISDOM!!
What is death?
Death is SEPARATION OF BODY AND SOUL
Christ’s death was a REAL DEATH
His body and soul were SEPARATED
AT THE SAME TIME…
IT IS UNIQUE!!
Because the Second Person of the Trinity’s soul and body were SEPARATED
AND YET…
HE POSSESSED BOTH!!
This is important because IT IS TRUE
This is important because of the promises of the Old Testament
Psalm 16:10, “You will not let your holy one see corruption.”
Because the Divine Person retained both His soul and body even though they were separated they were PRESERVED FROM CORRUPTION
Paragraph 627 says, “Jesus’ Resurrection ‘on the third day’ was the sign of this also, because bodily decay was held to begin on the fourth day after death.”
What is that??
Remember John Ch 11 we have the story of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha
He had been dead for FOUR DAYS
When Jesus told the people to roll back the stone, one of the sisters said to him, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. There will be a stench.”
Because corruption was said to set in on Day 4
Jesus rose from the dead on the THIRD DAY
We recognize that this is another way that Jesus fulfills that three days later He would rise from the dead
It also fulfills the story of Jonah and the whale
Jonah was in the belly of the whale for THREE DAYS
The Son of Man was in the Earth for THREE DAYS
BUT…
Jesus also fulfills this PROMISE
YOU WILL NOT LET YOUR HOLY ONE SEE CORRUPTION
Paragraph 627 says, “My flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption.”
This is a quote from Acts Ch 2 which is ACTUALLY a quote from Psalm 16
This is the promise of God that has been FULFILLED
Paragraph 628 highlights Baptism
We have been talking about Jesus’ DEATH
Why would we talk about His BAPTISM?
Paragraph 628 says, “Baptism, the original and full sign of which is immersion, efficaciously signifies the descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies to sin with Christ in order to have a new life.”
The idea is that you are immersed into water THREE TIMES
This is a sign of Christ’s descent into the Earth for THREE DAYS
It’s a reminder when water is poured over a person’s head in Baptism
IT’S BEAUTIFUL!!
IT’S SO EFFICACIOUS!!
IT’S SO POWERFUL!!
IT STILL DOES WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO
BUT…
The sign of GOING BENEATH THE WATER has always pointed the Christian to the reality that Jesus DESCENDED INTO DEATH
When we are Baptized, we DESCEND INTO HIS DEATH TOO
We enter into HIS DEATH so that we can RISE TO NEW LIFE WITH HIM
Tomorrow, what does it mean that JESUS DESCENDED INTO HELL?
IT IS REM…
(SQUIRREL!! 😉)
If you ever asked the question, “What does it mean to say that Jesus died?”
You might not have asked the question, “What does it mean to say that Jesus descended into Hell?”
We say this every time we pray the Apostles’ Creed
Day 90 is the day we will dive deeply into what it means to DESCEND INTO HELL
Today we just pray about the reality that Jesus entered into death TO BE ONE WITH US
Jesus entered into death TO SAVE US FROM DEATH
Jesus entered into death TO CONQUER DEATH
He did this as the DIVINE PERSON HE IS
So He retained His body AND His soul
He did not see corruption because GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS PROMISES
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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