HOLY SATURDAY – GREAT SABBATH.pptx

HOLY SATURDAY – GREAT SABBATH
• Recovering how the Apostles understood all of the OT as
pointing to Christ’s ministry and works. As Paul said:
• Acts 24:14 “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way
which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers,
believing all things which are written in the law and in the
prophets.”
• Acts 28:23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came
many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and
testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning
Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets,
from morning till evening.

•Some of this teaching is preserved in the NT
itself. Much more was passed on to the next
generation of disciples by the Apostles, as
evidenced by the early Church fathers. Even
the ancient liturgies and lectionaries
associated with Holy Feast days
commemorated Christ’s works as
foreshadowed in the OT.

•The Eastern Orthodox preserve a
liturgy known as the “Great Vespers
on Holy Saturday,” including
readings of the story of the “Three
Hebrew Children” from Daniel 3, and
the singing of the “Hymn of Azariah.”
The associated icon can be seen in
this modern example:

• Sacred icons are timeless in the sense that they faithfully
preserve traditions going back many centuries. In this particular
case, they even go back to the first centuries of Christianity. We
find this image a recurrent theme among frescoes of the third
century, preserved in the catacombs of Rome. Often, it is
juxtaposed with the image of “Daniel in the Lions’ Den,” as in the
following:

• One of the earliest examples of Christian artwork is
in a cubiculum of the catacombs of Priscilla, where
a prophetic figure points to the “Three Hebrew
Children” in the furnace.

• But why was this image so conspicuous among early
Christians wanting to express their faith in Christ as Lord
and Savior? And what is the connection with the
Liturgies of “Holy Saturday”?

• The Ancient Church used OT imagery to
express their faith to fellow-believers, while
trying to evade persecutors. They used those
stories and images that might be mistaken as
merely Jewish [a religio licita, unlike
Christianity], but that specifically foreshadowed
Christ in some way, based on Apostolic
teaching. Sometimes, they also combined
generic “Gentile” imagery, as in the juxtaposition
of the “Three Hebrew Children” with the story of
the Phoenix

• The recurrent theme of “fire” is clarified by
Jerome in the 4th century, in his commentary on
the book of Daniel. He preserves the traditional
teaching of the early Church about the story of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when he
states:
• “But as for its typological significance, this … son
of God foreshadows our Lord Jesus Christ, who
descended into the furnace of hell, in which the
souls of both sinners and of the righteous were
imprisoned.”

• Jerome is referring to the ancient
Church symbolum of the
Christian faith, the Apostles’ Creed,
and specifically lines 4 and 5:
“…crucified, died, and was buried.
5. He descended into hell.”
Though this line embarrasses
some modern Christian thinkers, it
was a core doctrine since apostolic
times.

• In the first recorded sermon preached
by Peter, we find him quoting Psalm
16:10 - “‘Because thou wilt not leave My
soul in hell [αδου - Hades ], neither
wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption’ ….“He, seeing this before,
spake of the resurrection of Christ, that
His soul was not left in hell [αδου–
Hades], neither did His flesh see
corruption.” [Acts 2:27-31]

• In the Latin version, the phrase in the Apostles’
Creed, "descended into hell" uses the same
word as in Acts, chapter 2: inferno. Peter is
thus the first witness that Psalm 16:10 is a
reference to the two-fold nature of the
disposition of Christ’s Body and Soul after
death. In a similar way, Irenaeus clarifies that,
• “This event was also an indication of the fact,
that when the holy soul of Christ descended [to
Hades], many souls ascended.”

• John of Damascus (c. 676–749) summed up the descent of Christ into
Hades as taught in the Ancient Church from the 1st-8th centuries: “The
soul [of Christ] when it is deified descended into Hades, in order that,
just as the Sun of Righteousness rose [Mal 4:2] for those upon the
earth, so likewise He might bring light to those who sit under the earth
in darkness and the shadow of death [Isa 9:2], in order that just as He
brought the message of peace to those upon the earth, and of release
to the prisoners, and of sight to the blind [Isa 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19],
and became [as] those … so He might become the same to those in
Hades: That every knee should bow to Him, of things in heaven, and
things in earth and things under the earth [Phil. 2:10.]. The Exact
Exposition of Orthodox Faith 3, 29].

• Ignatius of Antioch [another disciple of the Apostle John ] referred to
this two-fold aspect of His passion on “Holy Saturday”:
• “He descended, indeed, into Hades…. During the Sabbath He
continued … in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathæa had laid
Him. At the dawning of the Lord’s day, He arose from the dead,
according to what was spoken by Himself, ‘As Jonah was three
days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man
also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’” Matt.
xii. 40 [ad Trall 9.2]

• In the relief below, we also find a depiction of Noah, receiving the
returning dove into his ark. The apostle Peter also connected the story of
Noah with Christ’s “descent into hell.”
1Pet 3:18-22 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime
were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah

• By divine revelation (Christ’s own teaching), the Apostles knew Psalm 68 referred
to the Messiah. Commenting on 68:18, Paul writes: “Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?” [Eph 4:9].
The word for "lower parts" (the comparative form: τὰ κατώτερα) is similar to the
word used for "Hell" in the Greek version of the Apostles Creed (the superlative
form: τὰ κατώτατα, English: "lowest [places]")

•Paul goes further, asking, “‘who
will go down to the abyss?’ [Deut
30:13] (that is, to bring up Christ
from the dead),” [Rom. 10:7] referring
to the same abyss to which Jonah’s
soul descended, so feared by the
legion of demons that Christ might
send them there [Luke 8:30-31].

• Irenaeus, on “the tradition of the elders,” writes:
• And therefore,… all those who have been enrolled for
life shall rise again, having their own bodies, and
having also their own souls, and their own spirits, in
which they had pleased God. [Adv Haer 2.33.5]; But
every one will allow that we are [composed of] a body
taken from the earth, and a soul, receiving spirit from
God [3.22.1]; Man, and not [merely] a part of man, was
made in the likeness of God….for the perfect man
consists in the co-mingling and the union of the soul
receiving the spirit of the Father, and the admixture of
that fleshly nature which was molded after the image
of God [5.6.1]; For this [“mortal body,” Rom 8.11] it is which
dies and is decomposed, but not the soul, or the spirit
[5.7.1]

• Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul expresses
his desire that “the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly” [1Th 5:23]. What constitutes this
“wholeness”? He clarifies by continuing: “I pray
God your whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ.”
• Thus, Christ’s complete sacrifice of body, soul,
and spirit was required to redeem the “whole
man” – body, soul, and spirit. What exactly did
Christ accomplish by His Soul’s descent to
Hades/Sheol?

• Here again, iconography gives us a starting
point for Apostolic teaching . At the bottom,
we see two huddled figures commiserating in
despair, along side the broken gates of brass
[Psa 107:16].
• St Melito [a hearer of John] identifies these two
figures when he wrote, regarding Christ’s
descent into hell,
• “‘Who is my opponent?’ He says, ‘I am the
Christ. I am the one who destroyed Death, and
triumphed over the enemy, and trampled
Hades under foot’”- referring to Hos
13:14. [Peri Pascha 102].

• This was based on the apostolic revelation in
the New Testament itself. For example, we
learn that “Death” [Thanatos] & “Hell”
[Hades] are not merely states or locales, but
the powers and principalities over those
realms as well:
• “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and
his name that sat on him was Death, and
Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth”
[Rev 6:8].

• We also learn that these spirit-powers, just
like the beast [who possesses the antichrist],
false prophet [19:20], and the devil [20:10],
will also be cast into the “lake of fire” [20:14],
“prepared for the devil and his angels” [Matt
25:41]. But Revelation also documents some
of the most critical events of Christ’s descent
into hell:
• 1) Acquisition of the keys of life & death. Rev
1:18 “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and
have the keys of Hell (Hades) and of Death
(Thanatos).”

• Another aspect of what Christ
accomplished is illustrated in the following
icon: Here, Christ strides above a single
figure, bound hand and foot. Continuing
Melito’s quote, he is identified: ‘Who is my
opponent? I,’ he says, ‘am the Christ. I am
the one who… bound the Strong One.’
[Peri Pascha 102]
• The allusion is to Matthew 12:29,
• “how can one enter into a strong man’s
house, and spoil his goods, except he first
bind the strong man?”

• Matthew 12:29, “how can one enter into a strong
man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first
bind the strong man?”
• This is another specific spiritual principality, over a
specific region of Hades, as Paul’s reference
reveals: “And having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a shew of them openly,
triumphing over them in it” [Col 2:15].
• We see the Strong Man practically naked in this
icon because, as Christ says in Luke’s gospel,
“When a strong man, fully armed, keeps his
palace, his goods are in peace: But when a
stronger than he shall come upon him, and
overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor
wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils” [Luke
11:21-22].

• The realm of the Strong Man is thus
described as a well-armed, peaceful
palace. The Jews referred to this part of
Hades/Sheol as the “bosom of Abraham”
[cp Luke 16:22], or the “Paradise” [cp
Luke 23:43] where the righteous of Israel
were taken, guarded and guided by its own
“angel.”
• Binding this Strong Man was crucial for the
spoiling of his realm, which was the
second major work of His descent, and it
remains a consistent feature in every icon
of the Anastasis

• 2) The redemption of Adam and the
patriarchs: “He thus declares His death and
descent into hell, saying: ‘And the Lord the
Holy One of Israel, remembered His dead,
which aforetime fell asleep in the dust of the
earth; and He went down unto them, to
bring the tidings of His salvation, to deliver
them.’ In this place He also renders the
cause of His death: for His descent into hell
was the salvation of them that had passed
away” [Irenaeus Proof of the Apostolic Preaching 78].

• 3) The nullification of the Cheirograph.
• “Blotting out the handwriting
[cheirograph] of ordinances [legal
decree] that was against us, which
was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to His cross.”
[Col 2:14]
• The Eastern Church understood
Paul’s reference to the Cheirograph
through a matrix of NT passages in
Paul, Peter, and Revelation

• Here we see the downtrodden enemy
yielding up a scrap of paper.
The next
sequence
shows Christ
after having
retrieved the
Cheirograph,
right before He
nullifies it:
The exact nature of this
legal process is vividly
described in the ancient
Insular Latin text, On the
Apostle’s Discourse:

“Because it was customary
among the ancients for every
contract that was cancelled to
be raised up high on a shaft in
the middle of the city, before
the entire people, so that each
might know, that it had been
cancelled, afterwards, it was
erased by water and burned by
fire.”

In fact, as a result of what
He accomplished during His
descent into Hell, Christ
now holds the new
cheirograph, the new “title-
deed” to the Earth, as
depicted in the monumental
mosaic in the apse of the
Basilica San Vitale:

4) The satisfaction of the wrath of an
infinitely loving and passionately just
God.
This is perhaps the most challenging
aspect of Christ’s work in His descent
to Hell. It forces us as sinners to
confront the true weight of the penalty
for our sins that Christ had to bear, in
order to redeem us from our just
deserts. How is God’s surpassing love
for us [1 John 4:16] to be reconciled
with His righteous wrath against us as
sinners [Rom 2:5]?

Calvin expresses the dilemma, and its solution: “If Christ had died only a
bodily death, it would have been ineffectual. No — it was expedient at the
same time for him to undergo the severity of God’s vengeance, to appease
his wrath and satisfy his just judgment. For this reason, he must also grapple
hand to hand with the armies of hell and the dread of everlasting death. A
little while ago we referred to the prophet’s statement that "the chastisement
of our peace was laid upon him," "he was wounded for our transgressions"
by the Father, "he was bruised for our infirmities" [Isaiah 53:5]. By these
words he means that Christ was put in place of evildoers as surety and
pledge — submitting himself even as the accused — to bear and suffer all
the punishments that they ought to have sustained. All — with this one
exception: "He could not be held by the pangs of death" [Acts 2:24]. No
wonder, then, if he is said to have descended into hell, for he suffered the
death that, God in his wrath had inflicted upon the wicked! [Inst. II.xvi.8]

This was also true at the national
level, as seen in the Azazel goat and
Red Heifer rituals that foreshadowed
Christ’s passion. The 1st century
Epistle of Barnabas put it this way:
“Now what do you suppose this to
be a type of, that a command was
given to Israel, that men in whom
sins are fulfilled, should offer a
heifer, and slay and burn it…. The
calf IS Jesus.”

Hippolytus, the disciple of Irenaeus,
explained why Christ had to endure
every agony of every part of Hell on
our behalf:
You shall escape the boiling flood of
hell’s eternal lake of fire [Rev 20:15] and
the eye ever fixed in menacing glare of
fallen angels chained in Tartarus [2Pet
2:4] as punishment for their sins; and
you shall escape the worm that
ceaselessly coils for food around the
body whose moldering has bred it [Mark
9:48]. Now, such (torments) as these
shalt thou avoid” [Refut. 10.30].

St John of the Cross wrote an ode on John 1:1
which includes this dialogue between Christ and the
Father. In it,
Christ tells the Father:
I will go and tell the world,
spreading the word
of your beauty and sweetness
and of your sovereignty.
I will go seek my bride
and take upon myself
her weariness and labors
in which she suffers so;
and that she may have life,
I will die for her,
and lifting her out of that deep,
I will restore her to you.

HOLY SATURDAY – GREAT SABBATH.pptx

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