3a Easter - I Ptr 3. 17-22 (CEB) Desended and Ascended Lord or "What 'goes down' must 'come up'"
(Gospel Reading - Luke 24.13-35)
Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
"He descended to the dead,"
"He ascended into heaven."
In our believing faith, in the creeds we say in worship, it's easy to look at these two affirmations of faith as bookends on the journey of Christ. One could understand that descending might be an understanding of humanity as dead - lacking the life of God. On the other hand, Christ's ascension into heaven is his pre-incarnational homecoming to His Father; when Jesus as a body in which God took flesh is no longer seen, so He's "up there", where 'heaven' is according to an old cosmology, but even the New Testament's view of heaven more inclines to seeing heaven as the dwelling place of God.
As we've endured a celebration of Easter without its usual ecclesial trappings and an astonishing quiet where loud voices and louder instruments are usually intoning our victory over death, we look at the Sabbath of Passover, Christians observing this Sabbath have two traditions. First, is a commemoration of the Lord's body resting in the grave, anticipating resurrection as do we when we are placed in the grave. The second commemoration is of the event mentioned in our second reading this morning. This one implies that before Jesus made His new life known, He made a descent to the place of the dead - a Godless place it is - and cleansed it of its population. Important to this interpretation of Holy Saturday is this: "It was by the Spirit" that this action was taken. By the "Lord, the Giver of Life", there is no death and no imprisonment by its' authorities and powers. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
There are theologians around that have a dispute over the translation in the Apostles Creed, "he descended to the dead." Many of us know it was formerly "he descended into hell". Your preacher - and he may be wrong - doesn't see a hell of a lot of difference. Death is the ultimate power of hell after all. Its' chief angel is the satan, who in a literal sense presides over nothingness, where the Spirit of God is not.
Yet the writer of this text seems to imply that this truth points to Baptism as our salvation. The salvation of Holy Baptism comes not as a cleansing of the body, but as "the mark of a good conscience before God." (v. 21b) Our cleansing is trust in the promise of God who "breaks the yawning gates of hell" (ELW 366, v. 4) by His resurrection smashing of the powers of death. In Baptism, salvation meets us as God-Father, Son, and Spirit, enter into our inner being to transform our lives to face death's last gasp - suffering. In the next paragraph of the First letter of Peter, the author boldly asserts that those who suffer are those "finished with sin," ( I Ptr 4.1b) Our desires are turned to God's will, he writes; therefore sinning is a waste of time. I'm confident if you and me consider our sinful actions, the worship of all the seeming infinite number of idols that our consumerist culture place before us and the money we accumulate to offer our obeisance to them, we'll understand the symptoms of sin that act out in our bodies are truly time wasting.
As we live in a kind of silent world - at least in a world wide economic slowdown, if not lockdown,, we discover that the world seems to be cleansing itself - have you seen the radical before/after images of Los Angeles, Beijing, New York and many other cities known for vehicle exhaust pollution. In just a month, the clarity of skies has been phenomenal. Trusting the real world impact of Jesus' crucifixion and rising from the dead, made known in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and the preaching of the Word that comes from that, we are cleansed by faith/trust/belief in that world. In Jesus the satanic smog is lifted and clarity about what matters is restored.
In Jesus' exposition of Holy Scripture two men on the 10 km road to Emmaus from Jerusalem found their hearts burning within them - in a good way - around scripture and the breaking of bread. There is nothing virtual, nothing fake, when in the Word and Sacrament we receive on our weekly Resurrection Day. There is nothing virtual about this good news. Its' impact is promise and presence. Our eyes are opened and we recognise Him.
How's that happen when we confess Christ's ascension into heaven? In short, it's the result of descension. (When you're the Son of God, 'what goes down, must come up,' I suppose.) He descended to the dead to be raised in the Spirit to rule over every ruler, to have authority over every other and power unimagined in our impatient, angry, and violent world.
Should circumstances seem to warrant our silent Easter season, let us be assured that silence is the breath before the Word, which the Spirit supplies to us, Baptism's promise is sure, the proclaimed Word of forgiveness echoes, the Eucharist we have received is not time bound. Faith in Christ is in an abiding hunger to hear and to taste, to see and to touch the glory of God in the Word and Sacrament face of Jesus Christ.
Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
"He descended to the dead,"
"He ascended into heaven."
In our believing faith, in the creeds we say in worship, it's easy to look at these two affirmations of faith as bookends on the journey of Christ. One could understand that descending might be an understanding of humanity as dead - lacking the life of God. On the other hand, Christ's ascension into heaven is his pre-incarnational homecoming to His Father; when Jesus as a body in which God took flesh is no longer seen, so He's "up there", where 'heaven' is according to an old cosmology, but even the New Testament's view of heaven more inclines to seeing heaven as the dwelling place of God.
As we've endured a celebration of Easter without its usual ecclesial trappings and an astonishing quiet where loud voices and louder instruments are usually intoning our victory over death, we look at the Sabbath of Passover, Christians observing this Sabbath have two traditions. First, is a commemoration of the Lord's body resting in the grave, anticipating resurrection as do we when we are placed in the grave. The second commemoration is of the event mentioned in our second reading this morning. This one implies that before Jesus made His new life known, He made a descent to the place of the dead - a Godless place it is - and cleansed it of its population. Important to this interpretation of Holy Saturday is this: "It was by the Spirit" that this action was taken. By the "Lord, the Giver of Life", there is no death and no imprisonment by its' authorities and powers. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
There are theologians around that have a dispute over the translation in the Apostles Creed, "he descended to the dead." Many of us know it was formerly "he descended into hell". Your preacher - and he may be wrong - doesn't see a hell of a lot of difference. Death is the ultimate power of hell after all. Its' chief angel is the satan, who in a literal sense presides over nothingness, where the Spirit of God is not.
Yet the writer of this text seems to imply that this truth points to Baptism as our salvation. The salvation of Holy Baptism comes not as a cleansing of the body, but as "the mark of a good conscience before God." (v. 21b) Our cleansing is trust in the promise of God who "breaks the yawning gates of hell" (ELW 366, v. 4) by His resurrection smashing of the powers of death. In Baptism, salvation meets us as God-Father, Son, and Spirit, enter into our inner being to transform our lives to face death's last gasp - suffering. In the next paragraph of the First letter of Peter, the author boldly asserts that those who suffer are those "finished with sin," ( I Ptr 4.1b) Our desires are turned to God's will, he writes; therefore sinning is a waste of time. I'm confident if you and me consider our sinful actions, the worship of all the seeming infinite number of idols that our consumerist culture place before us and the money we accumulate to offer our obeisance to them, we'll understand the symptoms of sin that act out in our bodies are truly time wasting.
As we live in a kind of silent world - at least in a world wide economic slowdown, if not lockdown,, we discover that the world seems to be cleansing itself - have you seen the radical before/after images of Los Angeles, Beijing, New York and many other cities known for vehicle exhaust pollution. In just a month, the clarity of skies has been phenomenal. Trusting the real world impact of Jesus' crucifixion and rising from the dead, made known in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and the preaching of the Word that comes from that, we are cleansed by faith/trust/belief in that world. In Jesus the satanic smog is lifted and clarity about what matters is restored.
In Jesus' exposition of Holy Scripture two men on the 10 km road to Emmaus from Jerusalem found their hearts burning within them - in a good way - around scripture and the breaking of bread. There is nothing virtual, nothing fake, when in the Word and Sacrament we receive on our weekly Resurrection Day. There is nothing virtual about this good news. Its' impact is promise and presence. Our eyes are opened and we recognise Him.
How's that happen when we confess Christ's ascension into heaven? In short, it's the result of descension. (When you're the Son of God, 'what goes down, must come up,' I suppose.) He descended to the dead to be raised in the Spirit to rule over every ruler, to have authority over every other and power unimagined in our impatient, angry, and violent world.
Should circumstances seem to warrant our silent Easter season, let us be assured that silence is the breath before the Word, which the Spirit supplies to us, Baptism's promise is sure, the proclaimed Word of forgiveness echoes, the Eucharist we have received is not time bound. Faith in Christ is in an abiding hunger to hear and to taste, to see and to touch the glory of God in the Word and Sacrament face of Jesus Christ.
Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
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