The Burial of Christ: What Happened Between His Death and Resurrection?
NOTE--Here is a copy of bulletin insert first; sermon follows. ALSO NOTE that this is part two, my first sermon is titled, "The Burial of Jesus Christ, Part One" and can be found at sermon central under John 19:31-42). Here is the insert, sermon follows:
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What Did Christ Do Between Death & Resurrection?
In today’s sermon, we are looking at various texts from the epistles that some Bible students place as occurring between the death and resurrection of Jesus. I have to admit that today’s message includes some speculation, so please feel free to disagree with me. I hope I don’t lose you on this one!
The burial of Christ is connected to the ritual of Christian baptism (when we are "buried with Him" in the water – see Romans 6:3-4). In my mind, it fulfills the type of the two scapegoats of Yom Kippur (Lev. 16:15, 20-22). The first goat was sacrificed as a sin offering. The second goat received a symbolic transfer of sin and was released in the wilderness. Together, they picture the death of Christ (sacrifice) and the burial of Christ (our sins are carried far away).
The Hebrews 9:23-27 passage is a bit more confusing. What happened is clear: Christ offered His blood to the Father as a sacrifice for sin in heaven itself; when it happened is not so clear.
But the strangest passage by far is that of 1 Peter 3:18-20: "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built…"
The "spirits in prison" are apparently the "sons of God" or fallen angels of Genesis 6:1-5. These fallen angels were somehow able to manipulate human genes (perhaps possessing men?). "When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose… The Nephilim were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."
Jude (1:6-7) interprets Genesis 6 for us: "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."
Another point of controversy is: "Did Christ make this victory announcement to these imprisoned spirits between His death and resurrection or just after He was raised by the Spirit? The text is ambiguous, so we cannot be sure.
Also note that some hold that the configuration of Sheol (Hades) was such that before the Resurrection, it was divided into two compartments, torment for the lost and paradise for the saved, as seen in the Rich Man and Lazarus parable in Luke 16:19-31. When Christ arose, He emptied the paradise compartment, carrying them to heaven (Eph. 4:9-10), leaving those in the torment compartment in place until judgment day, when Death and Hades are cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14-15). Although this is possible, we want to avoid being dogmatic about such unclear passages. Instead, we need to develop our convictions based upon clear and repeated Scripture.
******SERMON PROPER IS BELOW************
1. Two men went hunting in Canada -- had a pilot take them to remote spot. They caught 6 elk. Pilot says, “We can’t fly with that many-- too heavy. We can only take three.”
“Last year we had the same kind of plane and took 6 elk.”
“Okay,” said pilot. They flew, but soon could not ascent above the hills and crashed. All survived.
“Where are we?” one hunter asked the other.
“Oh, about a mile from where we crashed last year!”
2. Some people make the same mistakes over and over and over…
3. So it is that millions of folks know the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but they avoid surrendering their lives to Christ again and again…
4. The events, interpreted theologically, is the hear of the Gospel: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.
5. But why is the burial part of the Gospel? What happened then? How do other Scriptures fill us in with possible occurrences during Christ’s burial?
6. Sometimes I cannot offer dogmatic answers to some of these questions, but I can suggest we consider some possible events that could fit into the time period of Christ’s burial.
Main idea: Let’s look at three possible events that may have occurred between Jesus’ death and Resurrection, during the time of His burial.
I. Christ’s Burial Symbolized Leaving Our Sins -- And His Humiliation -- Behind
Certainty that this happened between death and resurrection: 100%
1. Water baptism pictures externally what has happened internally (Rom. 6:3-4)
(1) what WE leave behind -- our old self-centered life
(2) what Christ left behind: our sins
2. The Two Goats of Yom Kippur provide us with an illustration (Lev. 16:15, 20-22)
(1) one goat sacrificed, blood sprinkled on Ark of the Covenant
(2) other goat leaning into, released in wilderness
3. “Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away”
4. Lightning dissipates when it strikes ground; so our sins are dissipated ….
(1) As far as East is from West
(2) Micah 7:19
5. Application: We can find relief from guilt and fear…When God forgives, He forgets; we might still experience consequences, but our sins He will “remember no more.”
II. Announcement of Victory (I Peter 3:18-20)
Certainty of timing: 50%
1. Ancient creeds, “He descended into hell…”
2. I believe our text teaches that Chrsit announced His victory to bound, evil spirits
(1) some evil spirits bound, others free
(2) many spirits were bound during the Flood of Noah…
(3) these spirits had attempted to corrupt the human race, preventing the Meissah from coming; result, the Flood; Noah preserved because he was a righteous man and pure in his generation
3. Sometime or another, Jesus announced His Victory to them…
4. Question: Was this after the Resurrection or between His death and resurrection?
5. Was this was immediately after the Resurrection, but before Jesus appeared to anyone, or before the Resurrection?…was He made alive by the Holy Spirit, or did He announce His victory in the spirit (I.e,, just His soul)
I think this most likely happened AFTER the resurrection of Christ, because to "be made alive in spirit" implies that his spirit was dead; but our spirits do not die, so this more likely means that He was made alive by the Holy Spirit (all three Persons had a role in His resurrection, inclucing the Son of God, according to John 2, "Destroy this temple, and in 3 days I will raise it up."
Application: Whenever this occurred, one thing is certain -- Jesus Christ has, and will continue to conquer Satan. The book of Revelation predicts a time when The Kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ….
Right now, we are in a battle, the Kingdom of Light vs. the Kingdom of Darkness…we fight that everyday, whether we are conscious of that or not…We wrestle not against flesh and blood….
III. The Presentation of His Sacrifice Before the Father (Hebrews 9:24-28)
Certainty of timing: 50%
1. Lots of important doctrine here…
2. Christ died only once….communion is therefore not a resacrifice…
3. What Jesus did was effective….
4. No reincarnation (27)
5. But the passage focus on Christ offering a Yom Kippur type sacrifice in heaven…
(1) tabernacle corresponds to God’s throne room in heaven (in principle)
(2) Yom Kippur -- a presentation of the blood….
6. But when did this occur? One possible time slot is John 20:17
Application: What matters most is not when these events occurred, but that they did. And Jesus did all these things just for you.
CONCLUSION
1. Once is a while I get a set of return address stickers from Disabled American Veterans. The theory is that people will use the stickers, but will feel guilty if they do not send in a contribution. Most of the time I keep but send nothing…every few years it gets the best of me and their manipulative trick works…
2. But Jesus did all this not to manipulate us, but because He loved us. How can we not respond? How can we not surrender our lives to Him?
(Also see my sermon: "Contemplating the Burial: The Basic Facts")
