What happened on Saturday?

Easter is over, at least for 2020. For the first time ever, it was celebrated and commemorated on a totally different scale and platform. In some reports, the  recorded “attendance” for Easter “service” was explosive yet the doors of churches globally were closed on Easter Sunday. This Covid-19 virus that plagued our earth today is redefining church. Once, we leave home to attend church on Sundays, now church comes into our home. The convenience of having church at home had spiked the attendance of church in ways we never thought before. YET this is not an entirely new phenomenon. When church first started two thousand years ago, the church met in homes of believers and in market places whenever clusters of believers gathered in the name of Jesus. How did the church perform then? In a nutshell, families and communities were reached, transformed and souls were added daily into the Kingdom of God. The gospel spread like virus. It was pandemic. The believers (not the apostles) preached the gospel to the ends of the earth while the apostles remained in Jerusalem initially. The believers gathered in clusters, discipling one another. Instead of gathering themselves in masses and in buildings like churches today, they turned each other loose. The gospel took a natural course. It went viral! Their goal was never to gather but to spread. There were no programs. It was simply the love of God that compelled them.

Today, church is rather complex and not very duplicable. It is consumer based (keeping Christians happy). The impact of church today is far from what it was in the days of Acts. There were no labels then and it wasn’t about a preacher. It was the acts of the Holy Spirit. The believers built the church. The apostles reinforced the teachings of Christ and helped with the foundations of the church. 

I asked a question in one of the chat groups over social media. What happened between Good Friday and Sunday Easter? Not one person responded. Has it ever occurred to you Good Saturday? What happened to Jesus on Saturday? Was Jesus waiting in the tomb for the day of His resurrection? What happened to Jesus after He proclaimed: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit?”. Bible said, Jesus descended. “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43). Jesus descended into Sheol where the thief next to him on the cross descended.

Hades (or Sheol) was the place for the departed souls for both the righteous and the unrighteous prior to Jesus' death and resurrection. Being temporarily atoned for their sins through the blood of the sacrificial animals, the departed souls were ushered into paradise while the unredeemed, hell. Paradise and hell were below earth's surface and is separated by a gap or a chasm. Here Jesus presented Himself the ultimate sacrificial lamb and brought redemption to those in Paradise (Ephesians 4:7-10). When He resurrected on Easter Sunday, those from Paradise were ushered into heaven while hell remains and is expanding to this day. When Jesus uttered: "It is finished", what was necessary had been done. He atoned for the sins for all mankind beginning with those in Paradise.

One final Easter thought. On that day when Jesus hung on the cross on Golgotha, Judas hung on a tree in the valley as he took his own life. Jesus was crucified for the sins for all mankind including that of Judas Iscariot. If only Judas had repented. In contrast, Simon was hoping against hope for the resurrection of Jesus. He was hoping for the opportunity to repent of his betrayal. He found forgiveness. Easter this year reminds me yet again of the grace of God. Jesus forgave Peter as if Peter's betrayal never happened. And if God so forgave us, can we not learn to accept His forgiveness and forgive ourselves too? I wonder if Judas had known. But that was not to be. I trust you had a meaningful Easter this year. God bless.