The Surprising God

This post continues a series exploring  Raising Adam, Why Jesus Descended into Hell  by Gerrit Dawson. For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ,  7 ,  8 .   Last time , we continued exploring our Lord's great transit of mercy --  considering the meaning and impact of several incidents in Jesus' three-year public ministry. We come now to what Jesus experienced on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, as he descended even further into our God-forsaken hell and death in order to lift us out of both. As Dawson notes, Jesus orchestrated these Holy Week events so that "his passion would occur at the feast of Passover. He would be the Paschal lamb. He would lead his people through the sea of death to the Promised Land of communion and life" (p. 60). Jesus' descent for us comes now to a great crescendo of sorrow and suffering on our behalf. Entering sorrow On Thursday evening of Holy Week, Jesus gathered his disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem w

This post continues a series exploring  Raising Adam, Why Jesus Descended into Hell  by Gerrit Dawson. For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 . Last time , we began exploring the steps in what Dawson refers to as Jesus'  great transit of mercy  -- the passage our Lord undertook for our salvation. This post looks at additional steps -- ones by which Jesus encountered, then defeated, three formidable enemies of humankind: sin, death, and the devil. Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery by Poussin (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Battling sin: descending to the circle of shame John 8:1-11 tells of Jesus' encounter with the woman taken in adultery, and with the Jewish religious authorities who arrested her -- placing her in what Dawson calls "the circle of shame." That circle quickly became "the circle of condemnation" as the authorities, in a misuse of the Law of Moses, took up stones to execute her. Jesus

This post continues a series exploring  Raising Adam, Why Jesus Descended into Hell  by Gerrit Dawson. For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 . Last time , we looked at Jesus' descent on Holy Saturday to the realm of the dead ( Hades in Greek, Sheol in Hebrew). We noted how the time Jesus spent in Sheol was part of the multi-step passage of descent and ascent that the incarnate Son of God undertook for our salvation. That passage began with the Incarnation, which Dawson calls "the great leap from heaven to womb." It continued through Jesus' life of faithful obedience and self-emptying love as he went about "undoing evil and reclaiming people from darkness." The journey came to a great crescendo when Jesus willingly "jumped up, so to speak, upon the cross," bearing our sin and yielding his life on our behalf. This was followed by Jesus' descent as he "tumbled down to the tomb." Then, from out of t

This post continues a series exploring  Raising Adam, Why Jesus Descended into Hell  by Gerrit Dawson. For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 . Last time , we noted the declaration of the Apostles' Creed that Jesus "descended into Hell." We pointed out that "Hell" translates the Greek word "Hades" and its Hebrew equivalent "Sheol," and that a better English translation is "realm of the dead." We then noted that Jesus' descent to the realm (condition) of the dead occurred on Holy Saturday, the day after Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday, and the day before his resurrection on Easter Sunday. But what happened to Jesus on Holy Saturday? And why is that important for our salvation? This post presents some of the answers that Dawson offers to these important questions. The foundation of biblical testimony Dawson begins by laying a biblical foundation upon which to ground our understa