WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.120 Well, perhaps you've heard it said that the word Easter is a pagan word. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:15.759 I've had people try to convince me of that the word Easter is a pagan word, and I want you to know this morning that it is not, in fact, pagan, and I can tell you the history or the etymology of it. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:19.120 I know you were hoping for this this morning, and so you're in luck. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:30.000 So it actually is it's an old Anglo-Saxon word with German influence, and the German word is Oster, which means East, and it is kind of an idiom in German for resurrection. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:37.600 As the sun rises in the east, there's new life, and so oster speaks of East or or uh resurrection, newness. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:44.640 In fact, in uh German to this very day, the word for pass uh for Passover feast is Osterfest. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:49.359 And I like in German you can just add the word fest at the end of everything and it makes it a party, you know. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:54.240 Passover feast is Osterfest, or Passover lamb is Osterlam. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.240 And they stole that from English, by the way. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:57.520 Lamb is an English word. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:58.240 I declare it. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:00.240 Osterlam, Passover lamb. 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:07.519 Well, Wycliffe, who did the first English translation of the Bible, 1380s, he used that word to translate Passover. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:22.319 So in the uh New Testament, when Jesus went to Jerusalem for the feast, our translations would say feast of the Passover, Wycliffe rendered it to the Easter feast, meet using that kind of idea of a resurrection or a new life and tying it to Passover. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:34.400 Uh when Tyndale translated the Bible in English 150 years later, early 1500s, he ditched the word Easter and replaced it with the word that exists in every English Bible today, which is Passover. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:39.359 Tyndale, it bothered him that there was any kind of distance between the reading of God's word and what it meant. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:43.840 So he did not like the idea of uh Easter in the Bible. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:46.319 He liked it better as Passover because it was more clear. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:49.840 The Church of England, however, did not go along with Tyndale's change. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.439 If you remember, the Church of England was not a big Tyndale fan in general. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:58.159 Um they tied him to a pile of dynamite and blew him up, is how his story ended. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:14.400 Um, but they also rejected his use of Passover and they changed it back to Easter, which is why to this very day your Bibles all say Passover, but we celebrate Easter because we're following the kind of liturgical holiday sanctioned by the Church of England. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:19.840 Now, you are not going to be expected to know that at any point in your life, okay? 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.000 You won't be quizzed on the etymology of Easter versus Passover or anything like that. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:25.280 You're not responsible for it. 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:29.439 So if that did interest you, highlight, delete, and we'll start over. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:36.960 Except for this, you will be held responsible when you die for your own sin. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:43.199 When you stand before God, he will not ask you where Easter comes from, but he will ask you what happened on that first Easter morning. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.759 And he will ask you how you are going to atone for your sin. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.120 How can you get into heaven when you die? 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:55.520 You cannot rely on good works, you cannot rely on your own effort or charm. 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:58.159 You have sin and you will be held accountable for that sin. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:07.199 Now the Bible teaches that Jesus paid for people's sin and validated that payment by rising from the grave on that first Easter morning. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:18.479 And so, while you will not be responsible responsible for the Germanic origins of the word Easter, you are responsible for what you do with the resurrected Jesus Christ in that empty grave. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:30.639 Even today, get on a plane, fly to Israel, stand in a line in Jerusalem, and it is a long line, to get into the grave of Jesus, and you will see that it is in fact empty. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:37.039 In fact, the last time I was in Jerusalem, our true guide looked at the line and saw how long it was, and looked at our group and said, You sure you want to wait in this? 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:42.319 You're gonna stand in a long line and you're gonna look into a room, and the point is that there's nothing in there. 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:44.639 All right, we'll move on. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:46.000 We'll move along. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:51.520 This is the celebration of Paul in Ephesians 4, verses 9 and 10. 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:58.960 He writes this in saying he ascended, what does it mean, but that he had also descended into the lower regions of the earth? 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:06.000 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:14.560 And so we looked at this a little bit last week when Paul says, in saying he ascended, and it's in quotes there, he ascended, he's quoting himself from last week, verse 8. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:16.240 That's a quote from Psalm 68. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:19.920 We won't retread that ground because we spent all last Sunday on it. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:33.279 Except to say this Psalm 68 is a celebration of God who rides into the world, rides across the Egyptian desert, rides into Israel, and rides up the temple stairs to the temple and ascends right on up into glory again. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:39.839 That's the celebration of Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem, revealing himself as a Savior, and ascending back to glory. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:41.199 That's why Paul is using that verse. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.879 So Jesus came to earth, conquered this earth, ascended back up to heaven. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:49.839 And so Paul says, He ascended, and then he does something interesting with the word ascended. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:56.480 What does that possibly mean, except that he had also descended into the earth? 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:59.040 And Paul speaks of this as if it's like axiomatic. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:05.040 If Jesus descended, or if Jesus ascended, obviously he would have had to first descend. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.279 Now tease out his logic here a little bit. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:17.439 If Jesus is the highest being in the world, the highest person in the world, if he is exalted, if he is the name above every name, if he's from the very highest of heavens, the top of the world. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:23.519 And then the Bible says he ascended, what could it possibly mean that he ascended? 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.319 You can't get any higher than the tippity top. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:29.759 If he is the name above every name, where else could he go? 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:35.439 It's like if you hear a set of a sports team that they they rebounded or they bounced back. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.279 Well, that means they must have lost. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.439 Because how else could they bounce back? 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.639 If you're undefeated, you can't really improve your record. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:43.839 You know what I mean? 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:47.920 So how can Jesus ascend unless he first created space? 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.160 Unless he first descended. 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:51.680 Or let me put it a different way. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.199 You could ask, hey, how was your vacation? 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:57.120 And I would say, you know, our family's vacation, it really started when we landed in Albuquerque. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:58.879 We went to Albuquerque, let's pretend. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.040 We really started when we landed in Albuquerque. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:03.360 Well, you wouldn't interrupt and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:04.879 You can't start the story there. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.040 I mean, did you take off first? 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:09.600 Well, obviously we took off. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:14.800 If your story says we landed, that implies that earlier you must have taken off. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:17.279 Although you're not perpetually in flight. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.079 Of course, if you say you landed, you'd earlier taken off. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.720 That's Paul's logic here, reversed for Jesus. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:28.639 If Jesus ascended, well then obviously he first had to descend. 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.879 He had to go down in order for him to have anywhere to ascend up to. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:34.720 It's obvious, he says. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:40.480 And so I want to look at Paul's course here that he charts for Jesus in these two verses, verses 9 and 10. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:46.800 He describes a round trip from glory down and down and then up and up back to glory again. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.199 Jesus goes on a round trip here. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.639 He starts in the highest of heavens, he ends in the highest of heavens. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:54.079 That's the phrase in verse 10. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:57.759 Far above all the heavens, that's where he starts, and that's where this journey ends. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:00.480 Jesus' round trip here has four segments. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:05.600 So you know how you might fly if you flew round trip to Australia, it would probably have four flights from here. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:12.079 You'd probably go here to like LA, change planes, Australia, back to LA, back here again, round trip, four flights. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:17.519 Jesus follows the same kind of flight plan here from the highest of heavens down, down, up, and up. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.120 And let's look at those four segments as we go through this verse this morning. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:24.879 First, Jesus goes from heaven to earth, from heaven to earth. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:26.079 What does it possibly mean? 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:32.240 Verse 9 says, He ascended, unless he first descended down to the earth. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:38.800 What Paul is saying here is that for Jesus to ascend, he must first have come down to us. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:47.600 Now, this concept of descent here is a very profound concept that we often limit in our own thinking. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:53.199 Do you understand the gap of what Jesus set aside from coming from heaven to earth? 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:55.040 In heaven, he had all knowledge. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:56.480 In heaven, he had all glory. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:58.079 In heaven, he had all power. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.000 On earth, he limited himself. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:03.920 Now, he did not limit himself by setting aside his divinity. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.920 He limited himself by adding to his nature. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:09.759 He added a second nature. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.560 He had his divinity and he added humanity to it. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:14.240 He is the eternal Son of God. 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:15.600 He's always been glorious. 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:17.680 He's always been exalted in heaven. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.800 As long as there has been an eternal father, it has been an eternal son. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.279 He has no beginning, he has no ends. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:32.720 He is equal to the Father in majesty and glory and power and authority and all of his attributes he fully shares with the Father that are one being, but he is the eternal Son of God. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:43.440 And when he comes to earth, he limits all of that glory and all of that beauty by robing it in a human nature, by constraining himself. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.559 And it's perhaps easiest to think through it in a few different terms. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:49.200 In heaven, he is the object of worship. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:55.360 The angels are worshiping him and he is commanding them, and they go to and fro and they bring him worship. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.000 On earth, he's not the object of worship. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:08:59.919 On earth, he is a worshiper. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:06.720 And the angels have to bring him, you know, water and they have to minister to him on earth, whereas they were giving him worship in heaven. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:11.120 Or in his deity, in his divinity, Jesus is omniscient. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:12.159 He knows all things. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:15.519 But in his humanity, he has to learn how to talk. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:19.679 You know, ask yourself this question: Did Jesus know English? 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:24.480 I mean, the English hadn't been invented during Jesus' earthly life. 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:26.399 Nobody knew English then. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:31.519 And but certainly in his deity, Jesus being omniscient, knows English. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:32.799 He's the word of God. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:34.000 He knows all languages. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:39.519 And so, yes, he knows English in his deity, but he limits that in his humanity. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:45.759 He becomes one who has to learn how to talk and to walk and have to be fed in all of these kinds of things. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:50.960 He goes from being in the immediate presence of the Father to becoming one who has to pray to the Father. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:54.000 And this is the descent of Jesus. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:59.519 You know, in school, you go up in grades, first, second, third, fourth, you know, until you graduate. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:02.799 Jesus goes from being the graduate back down to pre-K here. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:08.639 He's going down to earth, stepping out of the glorious of heaven. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:10.799 He didn't go to a powerful nation. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:12.320 He went to occupied Israel. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:15.600 Israel didn't even have its own independence during Jesus' life. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:17.200 They were occupied by Rome. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:18.240 That's his descent. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:21.360 He didn't go to a powerful family, but to an anonymous family. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:30.240 He didn't go to a powerful city, but to a nowhere's ville up in Nazareth, which is back in Jesus' life, tiny, most remote place you could imagine. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:32.399 He didn't go to Judah, but to Naphtali. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:36.720 He went to the most remote part of the most isolated country. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.919 I mean, he went down, down, down. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:45.039 If the riches of a king is seen in the devotion of his subjects, you see this with Jesus. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.440 In heaven, the angels served him every which way. 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:56.799 He comes to earth, and he's traded the angels for twelve disciples, one of which is a traitor, and eleven of which are slacker, loser, villains, honestly. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:00.000 I mean, this is a step down from glory. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:04.320 You might have heard the expression, there's no such thing as an unhappy dog. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:07.200 That might be more of a West Coast expression than out here. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:12.080 And what that expression means is that, you know, a dog is happy in its yard and in its house. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.360 It doesn't, the dog is not jealous of some bigger yard somewhere. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:21.600 You know, if you live in an apartment and you have a dog and the dog only knows the apartment and the patio, the dog is totally stoked with the apartment and the patio. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.440 The dog's not jealous of the bigger yard across the street your friend has. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:27.200 The dog doesn't know or care. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:33.200 And if you hear that expression, no such thing as a happy dog, and you think, yeah, but I once saw an unhappy dog. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:34.320 Missing the points. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:40.480 The point is that you're happy with what you have because that's all you know. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:43.200 We're like that, aren't we? 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:49.519 You know, I remember my first car was this little Honda Accord stick shift thing that uh I loved when I finally sold it. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.120 It was probably worth 500 bucks or something. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.519 This thing was just, it's a miracle the thing moved. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.480 And I was so excited to have this car. 00:11:56.559 --> 00:12:00.320 And then I got like a Mazda 6 that I loved so bad. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.759 And, you know, that thing was looking back on it, a piece of junk. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.879 I mean, when I was done with it, I got a call from the New Mexico Highway Patrol. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.799 It had been found abandoned on the side of the road. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.919 I mean, that's the quality whoever took that car next just left it. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:15.039 You know, it was worth buying for a drive and then just leaving it there. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:25.519 And every car you get is nicer than the one before, and you're happier with it, and you don't want to go back, and the car that you love right now, the best car you ever had, your neighbor might look at that car and go, I could never drive that thing. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:26.320 Yikes. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.519 And you love it because you don't know any better. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:32.559 Now, people are like that. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:38.240 We're happy being people because we don't know any better. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:42.480 We don't have anything to compare it to, so we're kind of happy. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:45.919 Do you understand that Jesus knew better? 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:51.519 When he steps down from heaven to earth, he chooses to limit himself by taking on a human nature. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:57.840 It's hard for us to understand how that's limiting because we don't know anything different, but for Jesus, that is hugely constricting. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:03.039 It's very difficult for us to comprehend the gap between humanity and deity. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:10.000 But Jesus not only understood it, but then transcends it and takes on the lower nature. 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:23.519 This is what the Bible means when it says He became He came to earth, setting aside the quality that he had with God, not grasping it, but taking on the form of not just a human, but a servant and a slave all the way to the point of death. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:25.440 The Bible uses all kinds of phrases for this. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:30.240 He emptied himself, he nullified himself, he made himself of no account. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.440 He became poor in 2 Corinthians 8. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:35.360 This doesn't again mean that he ceased to be God. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:40.639 Of course, he possesses divine nature at all times, but he chose to operate in his humanity. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:44.720 This is the descent of Jesus Christ. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:50.720 And you see it perhaps most glaringly on the cross. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:54.639 On the cross, because that's where he was utterly abandoned. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:55.919 And where did his friends go even? 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:56.559 At the cross. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:57.440 They fled. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:03.200 The father, whom he once had rich fellowship in heaven with, the father has turned his face away. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:04.639 Where's his riches? 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:08.080 I mean, he asked for wine and he's given rotten vinegar. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.440 He says, Why have you forsaken me to the Father? 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:19.279 The one who is so generous in wealth, so eager to share himself, creating us in his image, from his kind's benevolence, creating the whole universe. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:22.480 He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he shares them with us. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:26.240 That's how benevolent and giving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:34.960 And yet he comes to earth at the bottom of society's totem pole, lifted up on a pole, and crucified and really betrayed in an act of horrible injustice. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:39.519 He was murdered for all intents and purposes, but that's not even the most degradating part of his death. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:45.679 He was stripped naked, he was humiliated by the ironic sign above his head, the crown of thorns put on his own head. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:47.600 But that's not even the worst part of his death. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:51.200 The worst part of his death is that he took our sin from us. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.279 And that he who knew no sin became sin. 00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:02.159 He who had never sinned in his life, of course, he never failed to do the right thing, he never did the wrong thing, he led the perfect life. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:05.440 The perfect person then takes on our sin. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.120 I mean, there's nothing worse for a holy person than being labeled a sinner. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:12.000 If you love holiness, you hate sin. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:19.200 And Jesus, the holiest one who ever lived, became the most sinful person who ever lived as our sin was imputed to him. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:20.879 It was legally transferred. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.159 It was actually in a real way. 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:23.600 This is not legal fiction here. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.559 God actually transferred our guilt to Jesus. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.679 So at that moment on the cross, he stands condemned, rightfully condemned by God. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:41.279 It was obviously a murder and a miscarriage of justice by human standards at the human court level, but from the triune God's plan was to impute our sins to Christ. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:43.679 That's what I mean by descent. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:50.320 Do you see how far down he stepped from the glories of heaven to earth and ultimately to the cross? 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:57.759 The one who was the who clothed the grass of the field and the lilies in their splendor became despised and forsaken of men. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:05.759 The child and the bright morning star of heaven became the one to whom men would hide their faces and they would esteem him not. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.480 The worshipped one became despised. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:12.720 The man exalted in the heavens became the man of sorrow. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.919 The master became the slave, the rich became four. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:18.960 This is the descent of Jesus Christ in the incarnation. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:20.960 And this is not where the descent ends. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:24.799 This is only the first leg of his descent from heaven to earth. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:28.159 The second leg of his descent is from the earth to under the earth. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:35.600 He really died on that cross, and his body went into the grave, and his soul went to Sheol, the realm of the dead. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:39.840 This is what is meant here in verse 9 when it says, in a saying he ascended, what does it mean? 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:45.440 But that he had also descended into the lower regions, comma, the earth, is what my translation says. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:50.879 Yours might say the lower regions of the earth or the under parts of the earth or the region under the earth. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:52.559 There's all kinds of different ways to render it. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:17:00.240 What it means literally in the Greek is that to the realm, the sphere of earth under the earth, the very lowest part of the earth. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:01.600 He went underneath. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:05.359 This is what the Old Testament refers to, Sheol, the realm of the dead. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:10.559 In the Old Testament, when you before the death of Christ, when you died, your soul went down. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:13.279 The righteous and the unrighteous, they both went down. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.279 When you look at death in the Old Testament, it's always spoken of in terms of down. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:22.000 David and the patriarchs, they died, their soul went down to Sheol. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:26.960 The Old Testament describes Sheol for the righteous as a land of rest. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:31.759 Job chapter 3 says that he wishes he would have died and gone to the place of rest. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:33.839 So the righteous who die go to Sheol. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.880 Babies who die go to Sheol and they rest there. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:37.759 They wait. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:40.400 The suffering of this world is taken away from them. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:43.920 It is a happy place, a place of rest and expectation. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:50.240 The righteous and the infants who died in the Old Testament are longing, waiting for the unveiling of their Savior. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:51.599 That's what Job says later on. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:58.640 He says, I know my Redeemer lives, and in the end I will resurrect and I will see him in the flesh on the earth. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:04.240 So in the Old Testament, when the righteous died, they went down where they rested from their work. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:09.839 They rested and they looked eagerly forward to seeing their Savior. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:14.240 The unrighteous died in the Old Testament, they also went down. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.440 And they went down to a place of suffering and torment. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:22.960 Isaiah 66 describes it as a place where the worm never ends, where the fire is never quenched. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.319 Jesus describes it as a land of torment and pain. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:30.640 The unrighteous who die go to a place of suffering, also called Sheol. 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:33.599 So both the righteous and the unrighteous go to the grave. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:36.319 Psalm 63, verse 9 calls it the depths of the earth. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:41.279 Psalm 139, verse 8, David says, If I go up to heaven, look, you're there. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.079 If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:45.279 Speaking to God. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:47.920 The point of this is that you can't get away from God. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.039 You go up to heaven, guess what? 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:50.240 God's there, he lives there. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:57.200 You go down to earth to get away from God, or you think you can end your life to get away from God's presence, you will be sadly mistaken. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:00.160 You will see God's presence in the grave as well. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:02.400 He is everywhere. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.160 He is everywhere. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:08.720 So for the righteous, Jesus calls Sheol of paradise as they wait for him. 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.839 For the unrighteous, Sheol is often referred to as hell. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.160 Jesus calls it Gehenna, the land of fire and suffering, but they're both Sheol. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:17.920 Jesus goes to that place. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.160 He goes down to the grave. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:25.440 That's what Paul means in verse 9 when it says he goes down to the lowest parts of the earth. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:27.119 He keeps going down. 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:29.599 In Sheol, the righteous dead are there. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:35.200 So Abraham, Isaac, Naomi, Ruth, Rahab, they're all there waiting for their Savior. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:39.200 The unrighteous dead are also in Sheol, but that's not all that's in Sheol. 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:46.160 Also is in She also in Sheol are demons who are held in custody by God, demons who rebelled during the days of Noah. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:52.079 This is described in 1 Peter chapter 3, where Peter's following the same kind of trajectory here. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:56.160 Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:57.200 There's that exchange. 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:02.319 Jesus was righteous, he dies in our place, we're unrighteous, so that he can bring us to God. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:03.759 Now notice this phrase. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:08.400 He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:12.079 So this is talking, you know, on Saturday after his death, he's put to death in the flesh. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:14.400 His body has died, his spirit is still alive. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:15.519 And that's true for all of us. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:19.200 When you die in this world, your body dies, your spirit remains alive. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:21.599 So his body is dead, goes in the grave. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:26.880 His spirit, it says he goes and proclaims to other spirits in prison. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:28.640 Huh? 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:30.640 What spirits in prison? 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:39.759 Well, it says these are spirits that formerly did not obey when God's patients waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which is only a few, that's eight persons were brought safely through water. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:46.240 If you remember back in Genesis 6, we won't go there this morning, but in Genesis 6, there were demons that came and cohabitated with people. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:51.119 God destroyed the earth, flooded the earth, and took those demons and put them into custody. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:54.880 Not all demons are in angel jail, not all demons are held there. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:59.119 Some demons still roam the earth and afflict people and torment people even to this day. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:05.440 But there are other demons that are held in angel jail until God will take them and throw them into the lake of fire. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.839 That's described at the end of the book of Revelation. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:09.519 So that's their future. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:16.799 So in Sheol, righteous dead, unrighteous dead, angels or demons that rebelled against God during the days of Noah, they're all there. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.680 And this is where Jesus goes when he dies. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.319 This is a very important part of the Easter story. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:26.799 To understand that after he died on the cross, his body to the grave, his soul down. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:29.839 It goes down into the grave. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:33.519 Now, I know some people haven't thought about this before. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:39.440 It's part of the Apostles' Creed that Jesus descended into hell is the way the Apostles' Creed renders it. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:41.680 This is an important part of the Christian faith. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:47.200 And I hope that if you haven't heard this before, you hear it this morning and you see it in Ephesians 9 and you believe it. 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:56.400 Psalm 22, verse 29 says, All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship, but they will all bow down and go into Sheol, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:58.160 We all die and we all go there. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:03.200 And that gives us hope for the Resurrection because Jesus went there and guess what? 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:04.799 He came out. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.079 Paul says this in Acts 2, verse 27. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.279 He says, You will not leave your the Savior in Sheol. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:13.920 You will not abandon the Holy One to corruption. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:16.720 Peter declares that in Acts 2, verse 27. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:18.720 Romans 10, verse 7. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:20.079 Paul asks it rhetorically. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.039 He says, Who descended into Sheol to bring Jesus up from the dead? 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:24.559 It's Romans 10, verse 7. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:27.359 Who went to Sheol to get to Jesus up from the dead? 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:28.160 Did you? 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:28.640 Did I? 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:29.440 Did an angel? 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:29.759 No. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:32.240 Nobody can go bring somebody back from the dead. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:37.200 Obviously, the Holy Spirit, God himself, brought Jesus back to life. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:39.759 He resurrected from Sheol. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:42.160 He came into the grave. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:45.279 And the point here is that he conquered the grave. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:51.279 It's another way of saying that you can't escape the Lordship even by of Christ even by dying because you go to a place where he is Lord. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.799 So the question is, what is Jesus doing in Sheol when he dies? 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:58.160 Well, three groups of people, let's say he's doing three things. 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:01.039 First, he's liberating those souls that are awaiting for them. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:06.880 The souls of the righteous who are waiting for their Redeemer, he liberates them and sends them up to heaven. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:11.519 Second, the souls of the damned, he proclaims victory to them. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:13.279 He demonstrates that he is the Lord. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:14.799 They will bow their knee to him. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:19.759 Every knee on heaven and earth and under the earth will bow to Jesus as Lord. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:22.000 That happened for those that are already in the grave. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:26.400 And then thirdly, to the demons, he's proclaiming victory over the devil to them. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:29.839 He's announcing, that's what Peter said, he's announcing victory to them. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.319 The demons back to the devil's play. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:38.640 The demons thought the devil could outmuscle Christ and end the lordship of Christ, and the devil could take control of the earth. 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:39.440 And guess what? 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:40.880 They were wrong. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:41.920 They were wrong. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:46.160 And Jesus announces that to them down in their own house. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:51.119 And you think, why would Jesus go all the way to Sheol to, you know, is he bragging to the demons? 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.599 Well, he's not bragging, he's announcing. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:58.480 And I grant that there's a little bit of a, you know, arbitrary nature between bragging and announcing. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:10.480 I remember a while ago during, you know, 20 years ago now or whenever the Iraq war, we invaded Iraq, and Saddam Hussein fled out into the, wherever he fled into his hole. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:16.559 And while he was fleeing, remember, he was still releasing press releases and videos that declared that he was in control and the U.S. 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:21.440 was gonna, you know, perish and they would never be able to occupy Iraq, and he was still the rightful ruler of Iraq. 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:24.640 And that was going on for a long period of time until the U.S. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:29.839 released pictures of, do you remember this, soldiers swimming in his pool. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:33.039 Different soldiers sitting in his chairs. 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:34.880 He had a big throne in his palace. 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:37.599 We had pictures of our soldiers sitting in his throne. 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:52.000 There was one picture I remember very vividly of this private from North Carolina who went into Saddam's house, found one of Saddam's servants, and his servant gave him a pedicure in Saddam's bedroom on his bed. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:53.920 Perhaps you remember this picture. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:56.960 I mean, that is demoralizing. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:10.000 If you're thinking that your guy is still in charge and he's still gonna win, and then you see pictures of the opposing army swimming in his pool and filing their nails on his bed, it's over. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:20.559 Jesus goes down to Sheol and announces his victory over the grave, right in their house. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:22.880 Proclaims the demons. 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:25.920 The devil holds people captive by the fear of death. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:30.000 Jesus goes to death itself and announces that he wins. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:32.240 This is humiliating to them. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:33.759 Paul says it this way in Colossians 2. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:34.720 Look at this verse on the screen. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:36.480 Colossians 2, verse 14. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:40.400 Jesus canceled the record of debt that stood against us with his legal demands. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.599 So the same track here. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:43.200 You stand guilty before God. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:46.799 Jesus will cancel your debt by nailing it to the cross. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:49.519 He sets it aside, takes it from you, nails it to the cross. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:52.000 Jesus pays for it with his own death. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:26:00.559 In so doing, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:04.640 He humiliates them through defeating death itself. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:20.559 Death holds its victims captive, and Jesus thoroughly humiliates death by freeing death's victims and sending those righteous souls up to heaven, having the unrighteous souls bow their knees before him and proclaiming his victory to even the demons himself. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:22.000 That is the lowest of the low. 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:26.960 Do you see that he went from the highest of heights to the lowest of lows? 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:33.599 Jesus did not merely descend to the earth where we all live, he went to the very bottom of Sheol itself. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:38.559 So, in other words, he has now traversed every square inch of cosmology. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:48.400 The highest of highs to the lowest of lows, Jesus has passed through them all, which leads to his third segment of this round trip journey from heaven to earth, from earth to under the earth. 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:50.880 Thirdly, he returned to earth for his body. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:55.519 So I told you, the righteous souls, he sets them free and sends them up to heaven. 00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:59.920 He does not go with them immediately, he stops off an earth on the way. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:01.920 He has a bit of a layover. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:05.200 They have a nonstop flight from Sheol to paradise, up to heaven. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:08.160 Jesus stops over on the earth to fetch his body. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:09.680 He left his body here. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:21.279 He comes back to the grave, he re-energizes his body, his actual physical body that he was in earlier, that died on the cross, was put in the grave, soul goes down, he goes back to his body. 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:23.440 That's the first part of the ascent. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:27.359 He re-energizes his body, he's been dead for three days. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:30.400 Certainly there had been some kind of decay that had been going on in his body. 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:31.440 No big deal. 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:40.000