Easter: Daily Meditations On Holy Weekনমুনা

Holy Saturday: Sheol

INTRODUCTION

Text: Today we pause to engage with Holy Saturday, the day Jesus lay dead in the tomb. 

Reading: Read and consider these verses: “Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. ...” (Luke 23:50-56 ESV)

Text: Take a few moments to let your imagination fill your mind with images of what it would have looked like to take Jesus off the cross, wrap him in linens, and lay him in a tomb.

Prayer: Pray this prayer and consider its words: “God, I admit that death is a mystery to me. What is even more of a mystery is that somehow your son Jesus entered the realm of the dead. Into what depth will you not enter in order to show us your love and accomplish your plan? Reveal to me the parts of this great mystery of death that my human mind is able to understand. Teach me, Lord, I pray. Amen.” 

BACKGROUND

Text: On Holy Saturday the body of Jesus was in the tomb, but the spirit of Jesus went elsewhere.

Verse: Compare these two verses. See how Sheol is the place where both the wicked and the righteous (as in the case of Joseph) will go: “O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol.” (Psalm 31:17 ESV)

Verse: “Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning. ...” (Genesis 37:34-35 ESV)

Text: Sheol was the destination for all the dead. But Sheol was not the same for all. There were two locations within Sheol separated by a large chasm. 

Verse: Read these verses within the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side…between [them] a great chasm [had been] fixed.” (Luke 16:22-23, 26 ESV)

RESPONSE

Text: Sheol was a place for all the dead, including Jesus. But Jesus did not visit Sheol as someone defeated. He visited Sheol as the conqueror. 

Verse: Read this promise from the Psalms about what God will accomplish in Sheol: “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” (Psalm 49:15 ESV)

Text: Following his death for sin, Jesus journeyed to Sheol, to the City of Death, and ripped the doors off its hinges. He ransomed all the Old Testament faithful and led them to Paradise, the Third Heaven, where they would be with him. 

Prayer: Take the next few minutes to pray your own prayer of thankfulness to God for loosing the power of Sheol. For being at Abraham’s side is nothing compared to being a Jesus’ side. Thank him for entering into a place he would never have had to enter. Thank him for rescuing us. 

CONFESSION

Text: It is a sobering fact to realize how little we think of death when Jesus went through so much to rescue us from it. How rarely do we celebrate our victory over the grave? How often do we take life for granted and spend days without thanking Jesus for our future with him? Take a moment to consider, lament, confess and repent of the ways you have taken life for granted and overlooked your freedom from death. 

Prayer: Pray this prayer: “Jesus, I thank you that there is nowhere you won’t go to rescue me. You descended into the depths of the grave and beyond in order to bring freedom. Thank you that you did not abandon your creation to Sheol, but entered Sheol to bring your creation to your side. Help me to live in the freedom you have bought and long for the day you will make me victorious over Sheol.” 

GOSPEL

Text: We know Jesus did not need to go into Hades and be tortured for us because he said, “It is finished” on the cross. Instead, he brought Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, John the Baptist and all the faithful from Abraham’s side up to a place he called Paradise. 

Verse: See the promise of Paradise in these words of Jesus on the cross: One of the criminals on Jesus’ side said, “‘... 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:42-43 ESV)

Prayer: Spend a few minutes in prayer, thanking Jesus for giving us the greatest gift of all – being in his presence. Thank him, not only for not abandoning us to Sheol, but for bringing us up to dwell in his presence, which is paradise indeed. 

Text: We are not meant to only dwell with Jesus in Paradise as spirits. We were created to be embodied spirits. Death separates the spirit from the body; this is one of its greatest tragedies, but when Jesus returns, our spirits will be rejoined with our new glorified bodies. Death itself will be thrown into a full and final Sheol and we will experience spirit embodied life with Jesus forever. 

Verse: Read and marvel at these verses: “And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. ...” Revelation 20:13-14 (ESV)

Prayer: Spend the remaining moments in joyful prayer, thanking Jesus for defeating death so completely that death, the grave, and Sheol will all be killed once and for all. Wonder at the completeness of his victory.