Good Friday

"It is Finished."

As we saw in the Holy Week Post, this is the "Hour", Jesus' destiny, the reason for his coming into the world, now fulfilled. Satan is defeated, his weapons of lies are rendered mute by the Truth revealed in Jesus - God is love. By mercy, God's plan is to bring all who will accept, into his presence, sharing his very life with them eternally. Satan has lied about God's plan for people, calling it eternal death. He has tried to convince everyone to live as they will, and to join him in his exile, which he calls freedom from the demands of truth. With the blackest of all darkness, he shrouded Jesus' heart, crying aloud, "your God has forsaken and abandoned you." "You are no son of his, only I, Satan, can help you now." Jesus denounced this lie of lies with these words: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." At that very moment, Jesus' spirit ascended, while Satan was thrown into the abyss of his emptiness.

Here are some scriptures that speak of the hidden mystery following Jesus death on the cross. Ephesians 4:8-10 Therefore, it says: “He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; he gave gifts to men.” What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended into the lower [regions] of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. Acts 2:23-24 "This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it." 1 Peter 3:18-20 "For Christ also suffered* for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water." The prophet Hosea foretold the descent of Christ into Hell in Hosea 13:14 by placing these words into the mouth of the Messiah: “O death, I will be our death; O hell, I will be your bite.” Zechariah foretells the redemption of those in the Limbo of the Fathers in Zech 9:11: “You also by the blood of your Testament have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit.” What could this mean except that the Messiah would free people from the underworld? Colossians 2:15: “Despoiling the principalities and powers, He has exposed them confidently.” This refers to Christ’s victory over the condemned angels who are the demons of Hell. Psalm 23:7: “Lift up your gates, O you princes,” which the medieval Gloss interprets: “that is–You princes of hell, take away your power, whereby hitherto you held men fast in hell”. In Ecclesiasticus 24:45, Siracides prophecied: “I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth.”