The Cross
Heaven
For the first time in eternity, all of Heaven went silent. The four and twenty elders defied their usual custom of lying prostrate before the throne, firmly planted on their feet on either side of the throne, eyes glued to the Father. The Seraphim & Cherubim had ceased playing their mellifluous worship, instruments laid aside and soulful eyes intently centered on the throne. The archangels stood with wings fully extended, ready for action. All but Michael and Gabriel were in battle formation. Michael stood immediately proximal to the throne, ready to spring into action at the slightest hint of a command. Gabriel stood by his side in sorrowful silence, eyes down cast but fully prepared to move beyond the speed of light to transport any forthcoming missives within the blink of a human eye. The rest of the innumerable company stood by with blank faces, their watchful eyes revealing their inner turmoil as they remained trained on the Father.
The Cloud of Witnesses were still largely in shock, trying to piece together what had just happened with what the Scriptures had forecasted. They had not been prepared to feel their hearts ripped out of their chests in agony as they watched the events of Calvary. None of it seemed to make sense. The General Assembly of the Church and The Spirits of Just Men Made Perfect were in no better shape; deep concern etching their usually radiant faces. All were silent as they eagerly watched the Father, Who had turned away from the earth scene the moment the burden of sin was dumped on the Son.
It was the first time in all eternity that the Father had ever turned away from the Son or broken all contact with Him. The Godhead had never before been separated, not even when the Son went to earth in physical form. Their triune fellowship had remained strong, sweet and incessant in spite of the intergalactic chasm Christ’s assignment necessitated. Since their spirit was in perfect alignment and constantly communicated in symphonic cadence, the chasm had been of no consequence. Now sin had changed that for a seemingly eternal span of seventy-two earthly hours. Though just a millionth of a millisecond in eternity, the agony of that temporal separation was palpable. The Holy Spirit withdraw to a corner of the throne room. An unusually cool breeze blew across the entirety of heaven.
The Temple
The heavy veil at the entrance of the holy of holies tore into two perfect halves with a resounding, heart-stopping slash that could be heard for miles outside the temple walls. The ensuing earthquake toppled the temple foundations as walls and floors caved in and service vessels cracked and smashed to pieces. Temple structures crumbled to the ground with cacophonous speed. Priests and worshippers scrambled for dear life as they scurried towards the nearest temple doors. The darkness descending upon the land with rabid speed was so thick a knife could conceivably slice through its suffocating layers of encroachment. Shrieks of terror could be heard in every corner as pandemonium ensued.
The Disciples
Peter stood numb as his mind repeatedly replayed the events of the last seventy-two hours. Worse than his immense shame and embarrassment for doing the unthinkable to His Savior was an overwhelming sense of sorrow that He had been so rudely and ruthlessly ripped away from them.
Jesus, the living enigma; a moving mass of love and light inseparably bound up in a persona of tangibility and truth. Jesus, the paradoxical prodigal of all religious paradigms, a man of incontrovertible controversy, the epitome of humility and grace effortlessly manifest in a human scepter of unbelievable authority. Nobody quite understood Him but everyone could feel His pulsating and distinct purity, sovereignty and other-worldliness. He moved about quietly and unobtrusively, rarely drawing attention to Himself yet always the inevitable center of attraction. Crowds sought Him and instinctively wanted to crown Him as their King; He sought the rehabilitation and restoration of the sinful, broken, ignored, infamous and down-trodden individuals and subsequently always retreated to wilderness solitude.
He had become the center of Peter’s existence. Prior to meeting Him, he had been a fairly successful fisherman, earning a decent enough living to pay the bills and put food on the table. His wife and children seemed happy and his mother-in-law had stopped her incessant complaints, so he had been quite content. Then he met the Master, and a new world of endless possibilities and adventures opened up to him, not to mention the new passion for and relationship with Yahweh his association with Him had stirred up. The unshakable sense of conviction, purpose and fire He had ignited, the transformation of his household, his friends and their households, and their entire community had sent him on an eternal trajectory he would never recover from.
Now He was gone; it was all gone. All he had placed his hopes and trust upon had crumbled in the space of a few short hours. His indomitable, sovereign King had been decimated and His followers scattered, on the run, or in hiding. Peter wanted to puke. In a sudden move not unlike his incorrigibly impulsive nature, Peter headed for the door as he said over his shoulder, “I’m going fishing.” “We’re coming too!” chimed James and John simultaneously as they jumped to their feet and followed suit.
Thomas stayed put as he sat languidly on the window sill examining his well manicured fingernails. “I should have just listened to common sense rather than getting involved in this roller-coaster!” he muttered under his breath. Eyes rolling in self-disgust, he looked at Nathaniel and Phillip as they sat immobilized and confused on their respective seats. “You coming?” he said as he saddled to the door after the other three disciples. “It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do.” Both nodded in quiet acquiescence as they rose to follow. Bartholomew didn’t budge as he lay on a couch staring blankly at the ceiling.
The Women
Joanna and Salome bowed respectfully as they walked into the room John’s mother had ushered them into. Mother Mary and Mary of Magdala were seated in a small alcove, surrounded by several of the other women. Mother Mary’s tired face broke into a grateful smile as she stretched out her arms in welcome. Both women encircled her in warm embrace. Nothing was said for a long time. A soft wind blew against the wispy curtains as the room remained utterly silent. The shock and pain were palpable; words were not needed.
The Priests
Caiaphas’ sallow complexion was even pastier than usual and his heart was beating with rapid, forceful thuds as he surveyed the room. High ranking priests from every order were present, wearing expressions varying from stark guilt and terror to mulish determination and antagonism. All eyes were glued on him, demanding answers.
He cleared his suddenly dry throat and swallowed hard. He must get a grip on himself. So what that an earthquake had rocked the city amidst an unexplainable, thick darkness that had suddenly descended upon the land in the middle of a hot afternoon. What was the big deal about a heart-stopping, ear-rippling shearing of the thick, previously impermeable temple veil, even though it was unprecedented and had happened just prior to the earthquake, making it an unexplainable phenomenon? Why should he worry that these strange occurrences coincided with that troublemaker-cum-fake King’s crucifixion, and that he reportedly drew his last breath just seconds before the mayhem started? He licked his dry lips as he attempted to raise his quivering voice in readiness to address the room.
The Guards
The chief guard observed his subordinates’ work with satisfaction. The huge stone had been rolled against the opening of the tomb with one last firm jolt. Thus securely fastened, there was no way the boulder could be moved without considerable machinery, manpower and attention-drawing commotion. The laughable followers of the religious cult leader it housed would be hard pressed to stage their threatened “resurrection” as had been famously rumored. They must be desperately deranged to have come up with such a notion, or the cult leader was more charismatic than He had appeared.
At the trial, He had seemed to carry a curious aura of authority and equanimity, yet he failed to respond to the endless questions thrown at Him. His one response seemed to be his waterloo, for the religious leaders became even more savage and relentless after that. Although their accusations were obviously petty and unsubstantiated, it was just as obvious that they had it out for the fellow. His ongoing reticence didn’t help his cause, neither did the ruthless physical abuse to which he was subsequently subjected.
No, there would be no resurrection here. This man was deader than dead, having died in record time and much earlier than his similarly ill-fated companions. Besides, if the blood loss and intense pain hadn’t killed him, all the jeering, shame and disdainful treatment would have put the final nail on the cross, so to speak.
The Grave
Dark, damp and cold, were the immediate descriptives that came to mind regarding the grave, unbearably so. The silence was deafening, the darkness thick with the ironclad pangs of evil. The ropes of death were entangling and inescapable, floods of destruction swept over His body in waves of undulating malevolence. The grave wrapped its strong ropes around Him; death’s engulfing presence encrusting in a prison of even deeper blackness. The air reeked of pungent yellowish-green vapors representing hell’s suffocating sulfur-ridden breath.
There was a rapid, downward pull of gravitational forces of wickedness that sucked Him in like quicksand. There was no recourse, no escape.
Hades (Sheol)
Satan smiled with cold satisfaction as he took a sip of the blood-filled goblet by his side and surveyed his empire of dark forces. He watched as his supervising demons shrieked, danced and cavorted with maddening frenzy to the dissonant racket his musicians produced as they celebrated their success. His only regret regarding the otherwise successful mission was that the Son’s body and blood were completely inaccessible; he had not been able to get anywhere near Him, talk less of being allowed to extract His blood. What a slap in the face of the Father and forces of light that would have been. Heaven would have cowered in even greater shame and defeat. How unfortunate.
His officers (powers, principalities and other high ranking dark lords) didn’t perform the orgies their less dignified lower-ranking officers did, they rather huddled in groups, long talons similarly wrapped around blood-containing goblets while their sunken yellow and red hatred-filled eyes surveyed the unbridled wickedness on display. Each agent hoped his role in bringing the Son of God down would earn him a higher position of prominence with Satan. Each plotted on how best to outsmart and backstab his comrades to ensure he secured the revered promotion – even as they consorted, cajoled and congratulated one another for their great victory. Imprisoned human souls watched the whole scene in abject horror as they realized that their final hope of salvation and liberation from this horrid holding place was gone forever.
Without warning, the object of their celebration appeared in their midst, right in front of satan, just as a deafening roar thundered and reverberated across the stratosphere. Satan’s vision became cloudy as he went hot and cold at the same time. His throat, chest and lungs constricted dangerously and he frantically began to claw at his collar. Without warning and on their own accord, his knees buckled and he found himself on the floor lying prostrate before the King of Kings. Unknown to him, all his servants had suffered the same humbling plight.
The King levitated in their midst in resplendent splendor, clothed with indescribable glory, eyes burning with fire as they bored into Satan and his minions. The radiance of His glory was so magnificent that Hades’ darkness could not come close to or attempt to engulf it; it could only bow in complete submission to it.
Neither Satan nor his minions could understand how they could be lying flat on their faces yet see the King so directly before them. His piercing gaze in one instant conveyed the fact that He had known of their destructive scheme for His demise and humanity’s destruction all along, and had willingly played along. It had all been a part of His and the Father’s redemptive plan even before the fall. Satan felt like an idiot and sick to the pit of his stomach. How could his perfectly crafted plan have failed so miserably? He had been so certain it was fail-proof, having employed every trick and dark force to seal the deal. He was drenched in sweat and trembling uncontrollably.
To his utter horror, the King stretched out a nail-pierced hand towards him. Satan recoiled inwardly, instinctively knowing what it meant. He panicked. This could not be happening! He had been working for an eternity to secure this very thing, he could not lose it now! He willed himself to scamper away, but couldn’t move a muscle. The weight of the King’s presence and the piercing power of His gaze rendered him paralyzed and utterly impotent against the same One he had murdered a mere seventy-two hours ago. How could this be??
In a lightening millisecond, the King drew closer. This time, Satan’s terror could not be contained. The quiver of his trembling body could be heard clear across the stratosphere. Of their own accord, his hand unclamped The Keys of Hades and Death and handed them to the King. In the same moment, He felt his body convulse in a deep bow to the King in his already prostate state. The deafening silence was suddenly interrupted by a thunderous, reverberating cheer. The spirits of the righteous dead began to celebrate with joyous applause as they realized the tables had turned and their liberty had just been secured.
Just as suddenly, the King was gone, along with the righteous spirits that had been held captive. The aftermath of the visit lingered for what seemed like an eternity. The light in the perimeter of the space He had occupied dissipated relatively slowly, as though reinforcing its dominion over darkness. Satan and his comrades remained impotent, paralyzed and prostrate on their faces until the last ebb of light had dissipated. Satan’s mortification knew no bounds.
The Resurrection
But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. (Acts 2:24)
…“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this …?” (John 11:25-26)
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.” (Matthew 28:2-7)
And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” (Mark 16:5-7)
He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ (Luke 24:6-7)
“Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. (Luke 24:38-40)
Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there;yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yetascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” (John 20:1-17)
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. … Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:51-57)
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is by his great mercy that we have been born again because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.!Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay! (1 Peter 1:3)
For Your Conquering & Listening Pleasure
Hosanna (Hillsong United)
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2FzTX8DdvuE&feature=share
Champion (Dante Bowe/Maverick City Music)
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BOK8F9caDic&feature=share
In Christ Alone (Travis Cottrell/Solid Rock)
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8YmH3-HcLY&feature=share
Cornerstone (Hillsong Worship)
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=izrk-erhDdk&feature=share
Mercy (Chris Brown/Maverick City Music)
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=VXMRtoAnP9Y&feature=share
Resurrecting (Elevation Music)
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf8Zzn4nOzc&feature=share
He’s Alive (Folabi Nuel/Sunmisola Agbebi)