Tag Archives: Holy Saturday

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Jesus in Hell

04 Saturday Apr 2015

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From The Garden of Earthly Delights – Hell Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450–1516) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

For a few years now, I haven’t really believed that Jesus descended to hell in those 40 hours between his death and resurrection.

I don’t believe he was a ransom for souls or was victor over some evil force.

But what if the Divine in Christ was the Divine which follows us into the depth of shadows, to Sheol like what was mentioned in Psalm 139:

7 Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night’,
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

I like to believe Jesus didn’t go to Hades in some afterlife escapade like it mentions in the creeds but, rather, experienced hell as he walked the earth.  He went to the depths of Sheol every time he touched the unclean, ate with people who had little dignity, and healed the expendables.

So Jesus went to hell… and Jesus brought heaven… each day in his ministry.

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Churches in the Tomb

24 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Current Events, Life, Pop, Religion

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Completely void of light. Darkness envelops us. There is no way to our old lives, but we can’t find our way to resurrection…

I wonder if many of our churches are stuck in the tomb. Holy Saturday won’t end and we continue to wake up each day as if resurrection will never come to fruition.

We can no longer go back to the way we used to do things. Sure, our former ways of living was enjoyable, familiar and gave us great strength. But the church is like the pre-death Jesus: it will never come again. Have we taken the time to grieve for our old ways? Do we actually believe there is new life and that new life means completely letting our old lives go?

Rolling back the stone to the entrance to the tomb and grasping resurrection takes courage. It’s allowing ourselves to give the past to yesterday and take very little with us into the future. In dying and exiting the tomb, we are setting aside the hard-heartedness that comes with loss and walking into the sunlight with faith.

Life rarely thrives in damp, shadowy caves. Many plants need sunlight to flourish. Likewise, leaving behind the tomb for the lighted resurrection world will give our churches a chance to grow.

What will we leave behind in the tomb as a church (individual congregation, denomination and Mainline Protestantism) in order for us to spring up in the bright beams of resurrection? How can living into resurrection create a spirit of thriving?