A wonderful sermon on Holy Saturday by dear sister Sashmita Samuel. She works as a lecturer in a BPharm college after completing her M.Pharm. She is quiet in the church, but when she gave the sermon on Saturday, it was profound and fulfilling.
Let me quickly give a brief account of what the sermon was all about.
As mentioned earlier, we had this 40 day lent season, where we used to gather everyday at the church in the evening and meditate on the word of God. We focused on meditating 1 and 2 Chronicles and we covered the entire first Chronicles book. Praise God for such initiatives. As we approached Easter, we started the holy week services. Right from Monday - Easter Sunday, we had 7 days of service.
In this week long meditations, everyday we all went to the Church and enjoyed the presence of the Lord. Good Friday we had a half-day service at the church. And on Saturday, which is called the Holy Saturday, we heard this message from the dear sister.
What is Holy Saturday? What happened on that day?
Let us fist look at three points:
Let me quickly give a brief account of what the sermon was all about.
As mentioned earlier, we had this 40 day lent season, where we used to gather everyday at the church in the evening and meditate on the word of God. We focused on meditating 1 and 2 Chronicles and we covered the entire first Chronicles book. Praise God for such initiatives. As we approached Easter, we started the holy week services. Right from Monday - Easter Sunday, we had 7 days of service.
- Monday - Jesus cursing the Fig tree because of its lack of fruit but false display of fullness
- Tuesday - Jesus casting off the business men and the money lenders from the temple and stating the Temple to be the house of Worship.
- Wednesday - Judas agreeing with the leaders and elders of the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver coins.
- Thursday - The last supper and the holy communion - also called as Maundy Thursday.
- Friday - Good Friday - the day Jesus was crucified.
- Saturday - Holy Saturday. We will read more about this day in the blog post.
- Sunday - The resurrection day, when Jesus defeated death and was resurrected.
In this week long meditations, everyday we all went to the Church and enjoyed the presence of the Lord. Good Friday we had a half-day service at the church. And on Saturday, which is called the Holy Saturday, we heard this message from the dear sister.
What is Holy Saturday? What happened on that day?
Let us fist look at three points:
1. There is a wide gap between our faith and its fulfillment. Jesus was crucified on that cross and was buried, and the apostles did not know what was going to happen.
2. The events that happened on this day acts as a bridge between what we believe and what we shall see one day at His appearing
3. This Saturday is also a day of waiting - waiting upon God and waiting upon the possibilities of a new beginning.
Let us go further into the topic and dwell on the happenings on Holy Saturday.
If we remember Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were so downcast, In Matt 27:61, it says "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb." They were sitting opposite the tomb, they did not believe Jesus words where He said how he will rise up on the 3rd day. The disciples also did not believe, so we see them on the same day, they ran to see the empty tomb, but they still did not believe. The ironic part in the entire episode is that the Chief Priests believed what
Jesus said when he was alive. In Matt 27:62-66, "62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64
“Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the
guard they set a seal on the stone."
What a shame, the enemy remembers the exact words of Jesus and they believed
it, but we do not remember, neither do we trust our Saviour's words. We need to be careful as to not to neglect His word, but to be cautious and always remember His words. If we believe, Saturday will be short, else, long.
2. The events that happened on this day acts as a bridge between what we believe and what we shall see one day at His appearing
3. This Saturday is also a day of waiting - waiting upon God and waiting upon the possibilities of a new beginning.
Let us go further into the topic and dwell on the happenings on Holy Saturday.
If we remember Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were so downcast, In Matt 27:61, it says "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb." They were sitting opposite the tomb, they did not believe Jesus words where He said how he will rise up on the 3rd day. The disciples also did not believe, so we see them on the same day, they ran to see the empty tomb, but they still did not believe. The ironic part in the entire episode is that the Chief Priests believed what
Jesus said when he was alive. In Matt 27:62-66, "62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64
“Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the
guard they set a seal on the stone."
What a shame, the enemy remembers the exact words of Jesus and they believed
it, but we do not remember, neither do we trust our Saviour's words. We need to be careful as to not to neglect His word, but to be cautious and always remember His words. If we believe, Saturday will be short, else, long.
Let us look at every year's message on this Saturday. Everybody in this place has shared the same message from the book of Ephesians Chatper 4: 8 - 11. Every year, message, about Eph 4:8-10 (led captivity captive) the same theme
Therefore it says,
“WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,
HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES,
AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”
9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.
Ok, for now we will also see what actually happened on Good Friday. We see that in Matt 27: 52, "and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life." How did this happen and we also read that Johseph of Arimathea came and took the body of Jesus and placed it in his own tomb. The next day the Chief Priests arranged heavy guards to guard the tomb.
If we look closely to what Jesus said on the cross, we realize that in the 2nd word, Jesus told the robber "today you will be with me in Paradise."
On the cross - the 2nd word was 'today you will be with me in paradise' - Luke 23:43 "Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Now, the question is, where is Paradise and how come Jesus told the robber that he will be with him in Paradise on the same day.
If we search for the meaning of the word "Paradise", it says 'heart of the earth', 'place of silence and rest, and in Hebrew it is called 'Sheol' and in Greek it is called 'Hades'.
Let us go a bit deeper and understand the places:
There are 4 places under us:
1. The lowest place - It is a prison for the damned. It has eternal fire.
We will read more about this in II Peter 2:4 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; " and also in Matthew 11:23 "...And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades..."
2. The purified place - It is a place where sinners purified of sin remain.
3. The place where people who committed original sin stay - It is a place where the little children who don't know God stay
4. Finally, the bosom of holy fathers - It is place which is mentioned in the Bible in LUKE 16:23 -In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. The place where Abraham and the other patriarchs stay.
These 4 places are very important to understand.
Now a question arises, why Jesus had to go to these places....
1. In the epistle to the Hebrews 2:14,15 - it says " Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." Jesus took the form of man and partook the same death, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death...
2. In the parable of the landowner in the book of Matthew 21:33-35 - "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 34“When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35“The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third..." we read Jesus going through the same death, same burial and went to Hades
The next question we should naturally get is, what did Jesus do there?
First, he bound Lucifer, in John 14:30 Jesus says, "I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,"
John 12:31 - "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out."
Secondly, he preached the gospel. In I Peter 3:19, 20, we read that "in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water." In the ASV, it is written "in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,"
Also in I Pet 4:6 - "For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God." Here it says, the gospel has been preached even to those who are dead...
Finally, those who do not obey, they will have to go through the 2nd death as it is written in Revelation 20: 13, 14
Those who don't obey, then 2nd death - Rev 20: 13,14..."And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
Therefore it says,
“WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,
HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES,
AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”
9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.
Ok, for now we will also see what actually happened on Good Friday. We see that in Matt 27: 52, "and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life." How did this happen and we also read that Johseph of Arimathea came and took the body of Jesus and placed it in his own tomb. The next day the Chief Priests arranged heavy guards to guard the tomb.
If we look closely to what Jesus said on the cross, we realize that in the 2nd word, Jesus told the robber "today you will be with me in Paradise."
On the cross - the 2nd word was 'today you will be with me in paradise' - Luke 23:43 "Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Now, the question is, where is Paradise and how come Jesus told the robber that he will be with him in Paradise on the same day.
If we search for the meaning of the word "Paradise", it says 'heart of the earth', 'place of silence and rest, and in Hebrew it is called 'Sheol' and in Greek it is called 'Hades'.
Let us go a bit deeper and understand the places:
There are 4 places under us:
1. The lowest place - It is a prison for the damned. It has eternal fire.
We will read more about this in II Peter 2:4 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; " and also in Matthew 11:23 "...And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades..."
2. The purified place - It is a place where sinners purified of sin remain.
3. The place where people who committed original sin stay - It is a place where the little children who don't know God stay
4. Finally, the bosom of holy fathers - It is place which is mentioned in the Bible in LUKE 16:23 -In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. The place where Abraham and the other patriarchs stay.
These 4 places are very important to understand.
Now a question arises, why Jesus had to go to these places....
1. In the epistle to the Hebrews 2:14,15 - it says " Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." Jesus took the form of man and partook the same death, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death...
2. In the parable of the landowner in the book of Matthew 21:33-35 - "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 34“When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35“The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third..." we read Jesus going through the same death, same burial and went to Hades
The next question we should naturally get is, what did Jesus do there?
First, he bound Lucifer, in John 14:30 Jesus says, "I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,"
John 12:31 - "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out."
Secondly, he preached the gospel. In I Peter 3:19, 20, we read that "in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water." In the ASV, it is written "in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,"
Also in I Pet 4:6 - "For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God." Here it says, the gospel has been preached even to those who are dead...
Finally, those who do not obey, they will have to go through the 2nd death as it is written in Revelation 20: 13, 14
Those who don't obey, then 2nd death - Rev 20: 13,14..."And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
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