As we look today at the day of transition from Good Friday to Easter Morning I can only imagine the despair that plagued the spirit of Jesus’ disciples, the victory that reigned in the hearts of the Jews that had pleaded for His death and the satisfaction of the Father knowing that His eternal plan of redemption was just hours away from total fulfillment! What a dichotomy of feelings. I can’t help but think that many of the Sanhedrin went home that night to their families feeling as if they had just solved the world’s problems all in a day’s work! I’m sure there were some that thought the hour of darkness, the earthquake and the veil being torn in two were odd but the sense of accomplishment at having silenced Jesus probably quickly overrode any meditation on these things. As they touched their doorposts, sat down to their kosher meals and followed the law to the letter, Jesus’ body lay inside a borrowed tomb.
The Jews believed that the spirit of man hovered over the body for three days but on the third day that the deceased was truly dead and could be buried. In the tombs there were two chambers, an inner and an outer chamber. The body was laid in the outer chamber and then eventually moved to the inner chamber as decomposition took place. Because of Sabbath regulations, Jesus’ disciples did not have time on Good Friday to properly prepare His body for burial so He was placed in the tomb quickly until after the Sabbath. But Jesus’ spirit did not hover there. His earthly tent, the body that He created, had proved a good home for Him as He accomplished the plan set forth from eternity past. He left that broken, bruised and crushed shell to rejoin His Father until early on Easter morning.
Can you imagine the joy of reuniting with God the Father? Joy unspeakable as the necessary separation was finally over and the wrath of God was satiated! It is almost as if Jesus took that Sabbath Himself to rest with His Father before He resurrected to fulfill the last details of the plan of redemption. Oh death, where is thy sting? O hell, where is your victory? That is what I rest in today! Knowing that on this side of the cross I have the full story so I do not sorrow as unbelievers! I know that my Savior lives and there is no despair for today!
Indeed the Jews believed they had solved the world’s problem and theirs by crucifying Jesus...they were more right than they could have ever known!
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