Jesus Works Unseen
Jesus’ body is now in the grave. Unlike the rest of mankind, Jesus is hard at work. His work is unseen by man, but essential to our eternity.
Jesus’ story if FAR from over. At the end of EVERY TIME He told His followers about His upcoming death, was the promise to rise again in three days. They didn’t hold onto that promise. It went right over their heads, or hearts. With His arrest and death, they scattered. They went into hiding and locked the doors.
The religious leaders grabbed onto the last part. They expected that His disciples did too. And they were going to make certain that His promise not come true, by the hand of others. They set a seal and guards to watch over the tomb.
While all this is going on, above ground, Jesus is opening prison doors in the spiritual world. He is collecting His ‘prizes’. Satan has NO CLUE the chaos that is about to rain down on him!
Let’s rejoin our story and look at all the participants. It is important that we see the WHOLE picture. We will pick up at the point when the stone is rolled in front of the grave where Jesus’ body lies.
Holy Spirit, lead this journey. Show me what You would have me take from Your story. Paint me a picture of these three days.
♥ ♦ ♥
Those who have been following Jesus are scattered to the wind like chaff during the wheat harvest. It began the moment He was arrested. Only one disciple, John, bears witness the whole way through. But even he does nothing to stop the process. Peter initially watches, but fear and ‘self-preservation’ drives him to commit a most heinous act; denying even knowing Jesus THREE times.
The sun has set and the new day has begun. Most of Jerusalem is celebrating Passover. Only those who held fast to God’s timeline have already celebrated. Those who adhere to man’s timeline are feasting now.
Caiaphas is glowing with pride as he officiates at the Seder in his home. The lamb is roasted to perfection, the wine is plentiful, all the pieces of remembrance are in place, and Jesus is DEAD! All is right in Caiaphas’ world; at least for now.
Across town, in another house, the atmosphere is distinctly different. In this home, grief permeate even the stones themselves. Jesus’ disciples are huddled within. There is no loud mourning, for fear of the Jews finding them. The doors and windows are shut tight against prying eyes as those in pain huddle together in groups throughout the house. Each leaning on one another as NONE of them has the strength to stand alone.
John has a family home in Jerusalem. In this home are John, Jesus’ mother Mary, and Peter. John takes his new duty seriously. He is protecting Mary with his life, while trying to ease her pain. Peter is another issue all together. He is heartbroken. Mary tries to comfort him but he is beyond comfort at this point. He longs for death, but will not raise his own hand to end his life. John and Mary keep watch over him.
In the spirit world, Jesus stands before Satan. He is grinning from ear to ear as he looks at Jesus standing before him. He has been trying for more than 30 years to make this happen. Jesus is nearly unrecognizable with all world’s sin covering every inch of His body.
As Satan watches Jesus, the sins covering Him begin melting off like snow. Small spots appear at first, then they join with other patches. Before long, nearly nothing remains of the black stains covering Jesus.
“How?” Screams Satan. “This isn’t right!”
Jesus laughs a deep joyous laugh that fills the space around Him like water erupting from the ground. “What is the price for sin” Jesus asks.
“DEATH” Satan spits.
“And, did I not die” Jesus prompts.
“Yes” grinds Satan from between His clenched teeth.
“And Who am I” Jesus asks with a smile crinkling His eyes.
“The Son of God” growls Satan.
“And, did I EVER sin?”
Satan’s jaw drops open. For the first time, he realizes WHY and HOW. He thought that killing Jesus would be enough. Now he sees that his work is EXACTLY what God had in mind all along.
“You let me think that I had won” wines Satan.
“No. You deluded yourself all along. You KNEW you would NEVER be able to place your throne above My Fathers, yet you kept trying. You enslaved man and brought misery to their lives. You have held them hostage, even though MANY of them chose to honor God. NOW you WILL release ALL of those who have chosen My Father over you. You will release them into MY hands; NOW!”
Satan knows exactly the ones Jesus is referring to. Those who are in a reserved place, away from the horrors of Hell. God created a separate place for them when He fashioned Hell. This separate place is only temporary and everyone within it knows that. They have been waiting for this day from the beginning.
Satan reaches into the darkness where he hides his keys. There are millions of them. He withdraws a fist full. Instead of handing them over to Jesus, he holds them tightly in his fist.
Satan expects Jesus to have to pry them from his hands. His smile is malicious as he holds his hand up with the keys locked in his grip.
Jesus shrugs. He knows there is NO WAY Satan can retain those keys. Jesus reaches out and plucks the keys right from the closed fist of Satan. Jesus’ hand slides through Satan’s like water through a sieve.
Satan sputters and screams again. “That’s not FAIR!”
“It is JUST” Jesus says. “Now the rest of them” demands Jesus.
Satan empties his hiding places of keys. Jesus waits for the last ones to be produced. Satan doesn’t even try and hold them from Jesus’ reach anymore.
Jesus walks into the very bowels of Hell. Armed with EVERY key to death, hell and the grave, He begins releasing the locks. When the chains slip off each soul, Jesus washes clean all those who have chosen the Lord before death. They are released to Heaven immediately. To those who had not heard God’s message of love, Jesus offers one final chance to make a decision. Many choose to accept His free gift, while others refuse it.
With the last decision made, Jesus walks out of Hell, never to enter it again.
As Jesus is working in the spiritual world, fear is mounting in the heart of Caiaphas. He remembers Jesus words concerning rising again. He pretended he didn’t understand the implications during Jesus’ trials. But he can’t keep the fear down any longer.
The sun rises the morning after Jesus’ death and Caiaphas is at the home of Pilot as soon as it is light. He recruited five others of the Sanhedrin to come with them. This is the first day of Unleavened Bread. It is a high holy Sabbath where no work is to be done. “This is an emergency” he tells his group. “Even Jesus said that exceptions could be made for emergencies.”
Pilot is wakened again, for the second time in as many days.
“My Lord, the high priest of the Jews seeks an audience with you.”
“Bring him in.”
When his guard says nothing, and doesn’t move toward the door, Pilot knows what is going unsaid.
“This is a holy day for them and he ‘cannot’ come into the home of a ‘Gentile’. Am I correct?”
The guard bows his head. “Yes, my Lord. You are correct.”
Throwing off his covers, Pilot rises from his bed. “Tell him I will be with him when I am able.”
The corners of Pilot’s mouth curl into a smile as he thinks about ‘when I am able’ means today. He is NOT going to rush outside to appease Caiaphas. This man trapped him into condemning an innocent man. “He will get no more favors from me” Pilot vows.
Pilot takes his time getting ready for the day. He even indulges in a hearty breakfast before going out to join Caiaphas.
Caiaphas is pacing back and forth like a caged lion by the time Pilot exits his home. Those with him only fare slightly better.
“What kept you? I have urgent business…”
The look on Pilot’s face stops Caiaphas’ rant in its tracks. Caiaphas straightens himself and tries again.
“Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first” (Matthew 27:63-64).
Pilot’s eyebrows raise in surprise. He had not heard this before. He wants to laugh at the Jews’ fears, but he holds it in. With a dismissive wave of his hand, Pilot says; “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can” (Matthew 27:65).
Caiaphas starts to protest, but thinks better of it. He turns and hurries off with his companions. They make their way to the Temple. There is a contingent of Roman soldiers attached to the Temple. These will be the ones to stand guard.
Caiaphas calls the soldiers together in the Court of the Gentiles. The soldiers stand looking at Caiaphas with boredom. Caiaphas shakes his head at their attitude, but these are the only men he has at his disposal.
“You are to go to the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. I have heard that it is garden of Golgotha. You will seal it with wax and use my signet to mark it” Caiaphas hands the captain his ring. “After that, you will stand watch over it for three days. The malcontent told His followers that He would rise again on the third day. I don’t believe it in the least, but we cannot let His followers break in and steal His body and claim that He rose from the dead.”
A detachment of sixteen soldiers is assigned to guard Jesus’ tomb. Once they are out of hearing of the Temple they begin to laugh.
“Can you believe that man! What an idiot. Who would want to rob a grave. After three days they stink.”
“He doesn’t want more than three days. But a seal should be enough to keep any Jew from breaking in.”
When the soldiers get to the tomb, they seal the stone and press Caiaphas’ signet ring into the wax. “This stone is heavy enough to deter even the most ardent followers. This is a waste of our time.”
“Waste or not, it is our assignment. Now begin your watches” orders the captain.
While Caiaphas is worrying about Jesus’ disciples, they are worrying about their own survival. All but Peter and John are locked together in one house. The doors and windows are fastened tight. The occupants move about like ghosts, barely speaking. The women make sure everyone is offered food. Few of them have any appetite, so it mainly goes untouched.
The two Mary’s, who observed Jesus’ burial, are preparing to go out as soon as the Sabbath is over. Their list is complete but they cannot go out until morning. They only have a short window of time too, as the weekly Sabbath starts right away.
After commissioning the guards, Caiaphas returns to his home, but he doesn’t rest. Fear gnaws at him all day. When night falls, he goes to check on the arrangements. He has to hurry so that he doesn’t break the weekly Sabbath.
“Why are you sitting around? Shouldn’t you be standing in front of the tomb” demands Caiaphas when he approaches.
The captain rolls his eyes before going to Caiaphas’ side. “We are on guard. No one will get past us. We have a perimeter guard as well as men stationed right in front. We don’t have to be ‘standing’ to be on guard. We know what we are doing.”
Caiaphas is mollified and he returns to his home. But that doesn’t remove the fear that has wrapped itself around his mind. He drinks himself to sleep this night.
With the spices in hand, the women return to the house to prepare for the first day of the week. They spend their day making everything they will need. No one bothers them, even though they are ‘doing work’ on a weekly Sabbath. By sundown they are ready. “One more day” Mary says to herself.
The Roman soldiers are bored out of their minds. “This is ridiculous! No one is coming to steal the body.”
“Our tour is almost done. We are NOT staying here after the third day passes. I don’t care what Caiaphas says.”
Jesus has delivered all those who have chosen the Lord to Heaven. His next task is to anoint and clean Heaven itself. He moves from each item in the Temple, sprinkling it with His cleansing blood. He anoints the entrance, the streets, and every building before securing the entrances. Satan will NEVER again walk into Heaven.
“It is finished” Jesus says out loud. There are only two more tasks to do. The first will rock the world and the second will complete everything.
Jesus steps back down onto earth and enters His body.
(to be continued)
Wait for it! It’s almost here!!!
My dad is the one who brought up the idea of Jesus ‘preaching’ to the occupants of Hell while He was there. I don’t know for certain if this is accurate, but I know He could have. He DID release all those who were waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled. From Adam all the way through John the Baptist. Their sins were washed white as snow and their chains broken on that day.
I almost forgot to include Peter’s struggle. We don’t get to see how he dealt with the shame during Jesus’ time in the grave. I imagine he was devastated by his own behavior. I know I would have been. At least he didn’t take Judas’ route of dealing with his shame.
Father God, YOU held all Jesus true followers in Your hands while Jesus was busy in Hell. And You received EVERY spirit with joy as they entered Heaven. What a day of rejoicing!
There is another day of rejoicing in the future. It is when You take Your church home. Those on earth will fall into despair, but those with You can’t help bur rejoice. Will I be alive on earth at that time? Just wondering. I’m NOT expecting an answer, as You said that not even Jesus knows when. “Sunday’s on the way!”
