They were divided among them. One group said let us kill him while the other said no, he is our king. Why should we kill our king? So they deliberated until in the end the group of death killed him. But God had other plans. The difference between God and man is that we always think of the present while God thinks not of the present but of tomorrow. He knew He had conquered man. He had performed miracles after miracles among them. There is, then, only one final ground, one final test, “that is the underworld”. He had to prove to death that He is the lord of both the living and the dead. He needed man to send Him to the underworld that was why it happened in the first place.
One bible verse that captures this very well is psalm 24. We read that the earth is the lord’s and even those that dwelt there in, because he founded it on the deep waters beneath the earth and laid its foundations in the ocean depths. We destroyed God’s idea of a perfect world and there was need to rebuild it. God doesn’t do things half done like us, so He had to start the rebuilding process from the foundation of the world. He had to go to the underworld and lay a new foundation for the earth.
When Christ died, the cloth in the temple was torn into pieces, there was heavy rain and thunder and total darkness engulfed the whole world, these are signs that a new order of things is starting. This new foundation had to be laid by one who is pure and righteous and who could ascent to the throne of God. We couldn’t do that because of our sins. Christ was to do that because He alone is holy. He went underground after his death, and as He was approaching the prison of the underworld, the gate keeper saw the glory coming with him.
Before now it was the custom to manually open the gate. However, because of the glory of Christ, the gate and the gate keeper started talking and behold everything became automatic. The gate keeper shouted, ‘lift us your heads oh gates and be lifted up ye ancient doors! (the door was old) that the king of glory may come in.” the ancient gate had started experiencing what it was like to be born a new because the glory that was manifested was too much. And so, the gate shouted, ‘who is this king of glory?’ The gate keeper answered, ‘the Lord, Strong and Mighty, the Lord Mighty in Battle… The Lord of Host is the King of Glory.
When Jesus cried it is finished on the cross, the disciples misunderstood him and thought it was finished with them. Judas forgot the story of the prodigal son and went to commit suicide. Peter and others thought to themselves, ‘3 years, 3 years we have been following this man. So this is how it’s going to end?’ so they slipped away to contemplate their miserable life. But with God, every ending is a new beginning. 3 days later Jesus rose triumphant from the dead and guaranteed a place for you and me.
Like the gate keeper, the old gate and the disciples, we’ve being worn out with problems; some couldn’t celebrate the joy of the season. Someone said to me ‘it is still the same me.’ But hear this, ‘your tomorrow is filled with wonders. Believe me, I have being there but I have come to know this truth ‘if you have lost sight of your tomorrow, it is time to rediscover it again’. God is interested in your tomorrow and that is why His son died for us. There is only one place to rediscover it. ‘At the foot of the cross’. Just like dead bodies were rising on the third day, you too will rise. Acknowledge, confess and release your yesterdays to the crucified Christ and you will live to tell your own Easter story.
You will live to tell your own Easter story...
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