I was reading a blog last week on an independent Adventist website. In it the author was exploring the day between Jesus’ death and resurrection, the day known in the Eastern Orthodox tradition as “The Great Sabbath”. In his opening paragraph the author observes,
“The poignancy of Sabbath is found when it allows for some emptying and emptiness. While celebrating God’s presence, we should also allow ourselves to feel something of His absence, even if only that as waiting ‘Adventists’ we are at the end of another week in which Jesus has not returned.”
Christians with no background in Adventism might find this blog’s ideas interesting. However, from my perspective of being raised from the womb with an Adventist worldview, then transitioning into biblical Christianity during mid-life, I understand both the underlying assumptions behind the blog as well as the reality of the new covenant. I also know both the spiritual arrogance and despair that drives the focus on “The Great Sabbath”.
Adventists have made the Sabbath of Passion Week the most important day of the weekend. According to Adventism, after dying Jesus “honored” the Sabbath, the day the rest of the world has “forgotten”, and by example taught us to honor the day as well. Sunday was the day Jesus did the hard work of coming to life; what nonsense to suppose the “work day” is the day we are to observe! Sabbath was sacred, even to Jesus, and even in His death—His absence—He honored its holiness, they say.
What Adventists do not acknowledge, however, is that while Jesus’ body was in the tomb, His spirit was with His Father, just as He said before He died: “Into Your hands I commit my spirit.” Not only that, but Jesus also told the thief who died next to Him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Despite the SDA arguments about English comma placement, the Greek text leaves no ambiguity; Jesus meant what the translations say: “Today you will be with me.”)
Moreover, Jesus was and is the second person of the Trinity; God did not cease to exist. There was no risk that the Trinity would ever be torn apart; Jesus was God, and there was never any doubt that He would succeed in His mission. As the Son of God, eternal, almighty God Himself, Jesus’ identity as God the Son did not cease to exist nor lie quiet in the tomb as Ellen White said. God the Son is eternal and has life in Himself. He was never missing, AWOL while the universe waited to see what would happen.
Implications
Jesus became sin—the thing God hates—and the Father turned away from the embodiment of sin that Jesus was as He hung on the cross. He was the curse that the law promised sinners. He experienced, as a man, the separation from God that is the natural consequence of sin.
For people to say, however, that the Sabbath—even the Sabbath before Easter—is a time to celebrate the absence of God is to completely miss what Jesus did by His death and resurrection.
The Sabbath Jesus spent in the tomb was part of His fulfillment, not His honoring, of the day. The Sabbath was His shadow (Col 2:16-17). When He came out of the tomb on Sunday morning, He shattered the curse of death and He became in that moment the Reality that Sabbath foreshadowed. He was the Substitute for humanity who destroyed the barrier that kept man from being intimate with God. He Himself became our Rest.
Adventists don’t generally understand that they are born spiritually dead or that they are under a curse and judged already (Jn. 3:18)—until the day they repent and believe in the Lord Jesus and His completed atonement for sin. However, when we believe in Jesus and His blood of the eternal covenant, we never have a time when God is absent. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He indwells us.
God’s absence is only for sin. Jesus became our sin, and when we receive His blood payment for our sin, we never will experience God’s absence. Ever.
We may have times when He seems silent, but His promise is true: He never leaves us. Instead of celebrating His “absence”, if we are believers we are to act on the reality of His promise to us: He is with us; He will never leave.
This year, are you celebrating the omnipresent, risen Christ, or are you honoring The Great Sabbath and the absence of God?
He is risen!
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“He shattered the curse of death and He became in that moment the Reality that Sabbath foreshadowed.”
That is so powerfully stated! So beautiful and awesome!
Thank you for addressing this issue of elevating Sabbath and diminishing His Resurrection!
He put death to death!!!!!
Can’t wait to celebrate tomorrow…
Jesus told Mary in John 20:11-18–vs 17..”Jesus saith unto her ‘Touch me not: for I am not yet aasended to my father: but go to my brethen, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and to your Father, and to my God, and to your God.” It’s clear to me, when HE died & the breath (spirit) of life went out of HIM, HE (a dead person) went & rested in the grave (Shoal/Hell)until the 1st day of the week dawned,as Sabbath ended at sundown, Sunday began at sundown. “From even to even (Sundown to sundown)is a day [ck Cenesis 1:3-5]evening(the dark part of a day)& morning(the light part of a day).Genesisn 1:5..”…So the evening and the morning were the 1st day” Genesis 2:1-3 is where HE finished HIS CREATION work. Gen 2:3..”So God blessed the seventh day(7th), and sanctified it, because that in it HE had rested from all HIS work,which God created and made.” God’s holy Sabbath day was declared long before any Jewish nation existed!!
Thank you for this, Colleen. I was horrified when I read the quote above about spending time feeling God’s absence. Wow…
Also, to say that Jesus did not go to be with God upon dying is calling the man they claim to be perfect, a liar. It has horrified me to see how many places in scripture I used to have to redefine the words or meaning of Jesus in order to keep all the proof texts connected for my SDA worldview. I didn’t realize that I had to call the Lord a liar, or understand Him as manipulative in order to keep EGW on the throne. My reasoning often started with, “Yes, but what He means here is… or, what He is trying to do here is…”– what arrogance. Jesus means what He says. He says what He means. It is just that simple.
If a person is able to sit and ponder why Jesus is not with them, then what I would pray is that God would reveal to them why they feel this absence and that He would draw them to Himself and bring them to life through repentance so that they may know His promises…
“…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt. 28:20b
Such good points, Nikki. And David, Jesus is LORD of the Sabbath—which means He is OVER and BIGGER THAN the Sabbath. He is not simply the manager of an eternal entity which is bigger than He is, as the queen is monarch over England.
No. Jesus is the LORD over the Sabbath the One who determines its purpose and boundaries, it’s function and its fulfillment.
Colleen (&others),
Since you mentioned an Orthodox website in your article, I thought I would share these Orthodox tidbits with you to bless your readers.
We Orthodox have a short Troparion (Hymn/Chorus) which we sing from Pascha to Ascension:
“Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death! And on those in the tombs bestowing life!”
If you check out any Orthodox Icon of the Resurrection, it shows Jesus trampling down death in His Resurrection Triumph!
Another Orthodox gem for Paschaltide:
Greeting: “Christ is Risen!”
Response: “Truly He is Risen!”
Here is the Paschal Homily of St John Chrysostom read at every Paschal Matins (the midnight Liturgy) in every Orthodox Church. I heard it last weekend (for the 25th time) – on our Orthodox Pascha (Easter). It has been in use in our Orthodox Tradition ever since the death of St John Chrysostom.
This reflects the triumph of our Faith since the beginning, and forms a powerful reason why we celebrate both the weekly and annual commemorations of the Resurrection of our Lord and God and Saviour (the Lord’s Day and Pascha respectively).
It also gives a powerful rationale for celebration of the Eucharist of the risen Lord on every commemoration of the Resurrection – both weekly and annual.
Any weekly “Sabbath” pales into insignificance in the face of this cosmic triumph by Jesus over death itself.
The weekly Sabbath was merely the “preparation-day” for Jesus’ cosmic triumph. Therefore, why cling to the “shadow” or the time of “preparation” when we can have, this side of the Resurrection the substance of our redemption in Jesus.
++++
The Catechetical Sermon of St. John Chrysostom read during Matins of Pascha.
“If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived therefor. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.
“And he shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he gives, and upon the other he bestows gifts. And he both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering. Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.
“Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains. It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.”
Colleen & others, thanks for publishing my first contribution.
Here are some more Orthodox tidbits for the conquest of Hades by Jesus and the Glory of His Resurrection. May they bless you:
(from: http://orthodoxbridge.com/ )
Comments on the Icon of the Resurrection:
We do not so much look at an icon as we read an icon, that is, we discern the meanings behind the symbolism. Icons have been referred to as sermons in color. The best way to read an icon is to start at the center, at the person depicted, then to look outward.
The first thing we see is Christ all dressed in white which symbolizes the divine light or the heavenly realm. We also see the mandorla or orb of glory around him. These indicate Christ’s divinity and brings to mind the line in the Nicene Creed: “Light from Light, true God from true God.”
Next looking down we see Christ standing on top of the broken gates of hell. The doors are laid on top each other in the shape of the cross. Over the shattered doors we see in some icons Death defeated and in other icons we see a black abyss filled with the instruments of torture.
When reading an icon, we look at the subject’s hands. Looking to the right and left of the resurrection icon we see Christ grabbing hold of our ancestral parents Adam and Eve pulling them out of the tombs. If one looks closely we that it is Christ grabbing hold of them; we do not see them grabbing hold of Christ. This shows our salvation being dependent on Christ’s power, not on our strength. In the background we see a crowd of people, some having halos around their heads and others without a halo. The halos signify their being saints, that is, the perfection of their salvation. A hymn in the Great Friday Vespers has this stanza:
When You, the Redeemer of all, were placed in a new Tomb for us all, Hades, the respecter of none, crouched when he saw You. The bars were broken, the gates were shattered, the graves were opened, and the dead arose. Then Adam, gratefully rejoicing, cried out to You: “Glory to Your condescension, O Merciful God.”
East and West: Different Emphases
Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection are affirmed in both Western Christianity (Roman Catholic and Protestant) and in Eastern Orthodoxy. The differences in emphases reflect their respective theological paradigms. In the Western tradition greater emphasis is placed on the penal substitution understanding of salvation, that is, the innocent Son of God suffering or being punished on behalf of the law breakers who deserve eternal condemnation. In the Eastern tradition there seems to be a reticence to expound on the forensic understanding of Christ’s death on the Cross. It sees other themes like renewal and deification:
You transform the mortal by death, and the corrupt by burial; for as befits God, You have made incorruptible and immortal the nature you assumed; for Your body, O Master, did not see corruption, nor was Your soul abandoned as a stranger in Hades. (Great Friday Evening Service, Fifth Ode)
In Orthodoxy there is an eagerness to expound on the significance of Christ’s resurrection. It views Christ’s resurrection as the reversal of the Fall, the creation of a new humanity, a great victory over Satan, our being released from death, the ultimate healing of our souls and bodies.
“When You, the Immortal Life descended to Death, it was then, that You put Hades to death by the lightning of the Godhead; and when You raised up the dead from the infernal depths, all the Heavenly Powers cried aloud: “O Giver of Life, Christ our God, glory to You.” (Matins of the Resurrection)
There is the palpable sense in the Orthodox Pascha (Easter) Liturgy that one age has come to a close and a new age has begun. Over and over again we sing loudly and boldly:
Christ is risen from the dead!
Trampling down death by death!
And upon those in the tomb bestowing life.
May all Christians rejoice in the great military Triumph of our Lord and Saviour in His death and Resurrection – Hallelujah!
John, thank you for your reflections on Easter and your comparison of Eastern and
Western motifs.
I believe we must stay close to Scripture if we are to perceive the reality of what the Trinity did at the cross and resurrection. Icons are useful to a degree, but we cannot look to them to “see” the biblical truth. We can each look directly to Scripture, and the Holy Spirit who breathed out that Book is faithful to teach us, when we are submitted to the Lord Jesus and born again (Jn. 3), how the word of God describes reality and transforms our lives. Icons, after all, are people’s own perceptions of Scripture. God has give us His word for each of us to study, and His word is alive. By it we are washed clean (Eph. 5:26) and born again “by the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter. 5:6).
I understand that Orthodox Christianity has a long and rich tradition, but it is my conviction that tradition is not the key to our understanding of eternal truth. The Holy Spirit Himself cares about His own word, and when we are in Christ and counted righteous by His imputed righteousness credited to us, we can trust Him who indwells us to teach us what is true. Without the propitiation of Jesus’ blood which satisfied the Trinity’s own demand of death for sin, we would not be able to be counted righteous.
“Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life” (Jn. 6:24).
“No one comes to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me” (Jn. 6:44-45).
Well said Colleen! “Sola Scriptura”. Christ was conserned that the Jews elevated the traditions of men over the express commands of God. Which makes me wonder, where in scripture are we commanded to celebrate the resurrection on Sundays or at Easter? I know where He said “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, but did He bless, sanctify and make holy a day of remembrance for the resurrection, or are there other ways in which we continually live by “resurrection life”?
Bruin,
You are correct that we are not commanded to celebrate the resurrection at any particular time. However I do believe that there is Scripture that has a bearing on this subject:
“One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord”
I believe this statement in Scripture gives us the freedom to celebrate Easter, but no reason to command people to do so.
Colleen, you write “I also know both the spiritual arrogance and despair that drives the focus on “The Great Sabbath”Do you Colleen Tinker claim to have the Spiritual discernment that you would deny EGW? Perhaps you would be more honest (and humble) to admit that this was YOUR condition while an Adventist, and leave the judging of others of that persuasion to the only One who does discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
” (Despite the SDA arguments about English comma placement, the Greek text leaves no ambiguity; Jesus meant what the translations say: “Today you will be with me.”)” The Greek does in fact leave the ambiguity, but more telling we know from the Gospel record that Christ DID NOT go to “Paradise” that day…”Mary, do not detain me for I have not yet ascended to my Father” (John 20:17) I would have no problem with Christ and the redeemed sinner on the cross ascending to paradise that day if that is what actually happened, but we know that Jesus did not go to Paradise that day, so we can safely assume that the dying thief did not either. The power of Jesus statement, and His acceptance of the remarkable expression of faith of the sinner’s prayer lies in the fact that Christ made this victorious promise when both He and the sinner were apparently in the most deperately hopeless condition a human being could be…dying the most ignoble death the vicious Romans could invent for the most despised malefactors. “Verily I say unto you TODAY…” this dark aweful apparently hopely day, I tell you with absolute assurance, “you will be with me in Paradise.” THAT is the faith of Jesus, and it was from Christ that the sinner received the gift of faith, and so it was also “the faith of Jesus” that was reflected through the words of the redeemed sinner on the cross next to the Redeemer.
You have expressed your opinion here regarding the nature of Christ. Thats fine, it is your privilege. Personally I believe that the EGW discussion of the nature of Christ, the triune God, the divinity of Christ and the nature and meaning of the whole trial, crucifiction, and death “passion of Christ” is more Biblical and make much more sense than yours.
You say, “The Sabbath Jesus spent in the tomb was part of His fulfillment, not His honoring, of the day. The Sabbath was His shadow (Col 2:16-17).” Your opinion is that Christ resting in the grave on the Sabbath was not “honoring” the Sabbath. Since it was He who created, and He who blessed and sanctified the Sabbath at the completion of creation; since it was He who wrote the Sabbath in the heart of His moral law with His own finger, in the stone from Mnt Sinai; and it was He who asserted His Lordship of the Sabbath as God incarnate; and it was He who sighed in a groan of victory, “It is finished” late that terrible, glorious sixth day…why would I not believe that as the Son of Man and the Son of God, He rested when He had accomplished the redemption of the entire human race!?
Colleen, I challenge you or any other FA to show me one time in all of Biblical history where the Seventh-day Sabbath is spoken of in any way that suggests that this day was ever intended to be a “shadow”. When the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, the Sabbath of Creation, the Sabbath of redemption from Egyption bondage (a symbol of bondage in sin), or redemption by the mighty act of God on the cross of Calvary…this Sabbath, eternal in significance, is ALWAYS in celebration of the mighty acts of God on behalf of His people, and all people of earth…”Come unto me and rest” says the Creator of heaven and earth with nail-pierced hands outstretch to receive, “whosoever will”. It is by His word that Christ upholds the universe of His creation, and it is by His word that we are held secure “in Christ.’
Just one clarification Colleen: I think a celebration of the resurection is a beautiful thing to do! Would that SDA would put more emphasis in it (not that they do not already understand and appreciate the glory and power of the resurrection of Christ, and the significance of it for redemption from being “dead in tresspasses and sin” to being “made alive” in Christ, as well as the blessed assurance of the great day of resurection at the 2nd coming of Christ). It is best to avoid the Sunday morning sun rise or so called “Son-rise” celebrations, since these are blatant expressions from the ancient cult of Sun worship. I would simply appeal to all brothers and sisters in Christ that while we celebrate a day (Easter) that Christ has NOT commanded, we should not forget what He DID command that we should “remember”. “He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. Mark 7:8-10
Here is the Paschal Message from the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow for this year. May you be blessed by it:
14 April 2012, 15:42
Paschal Message of Patriarch Kirill
Beloved in the Lord Your Graces the archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!
In spiritually rejoicing on this great and glorious feast of the Resurrection from the dead of the Saviour of the world, in contemplating in my thoughts his emergence from the tomb, I address to you all the life-affirming exclamation which is replete with inner strength, unvanquished truth and joy:
CHRIST IS RISEN!
The radiant Paschal night reveals to humanity the fullness of the Divine love by which the pre-eternal Son of the heavenly Father has taken upon himself human nature, healed it from the sickness of sin and, in descending into the depths of Hades, has destroyed the bonds of death, granting to us the precious opportunity of uniting with our Creator and Provider.
In uniting with this all-protecting love of the Lord, we acquire an unconquerable weapon ‘against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’ (Eph 6:12). We overcome the fear caused by the limits of our human nature and acquire the ability to confront fearlessly all of today’s challenges. For ‘there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear’ (1 Jn 4:18).
It is not fortuitous that the Gospel repeatedly conveys to us the words of the Lord which he spoke for the encouragement and strengthening of the spirit of his followers: ‘Do not fear!’ Fear for the future, the fear of dangers unknown, of imaginary or real threats, is a feeling familiar to many. Yet the Lord abides with us if only we do not turn away from him. And in these days of glorifying his victory over death the Saviour addresses each one of us: ‘Do not fear, only believe’ (Mt 5: 36).
May our behavior, in contradiction to the evil spirit of this age, become the visible affirmation of Eternal Truth. For, although we live today in conditions of social and religious freedom, the striving to live in accordance with Christian moral norms signifies, as before, a movement against the current. It reveals a refusal to accept those stereotypes of behavior and the position of the justification of sin which insistently and systematically make their way into peoples’ lives through modern means of influencing the consciousness.
When we turn to the Lord we can leave behind the spiritual emptiness and egoism reigning in the world, see the light of the Resurrection and perceive it as a guiding sign on the way to the Heavenly City.
May communion with the one Eucharistic cup become for us a source of strength in this moving towards eternity. May the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, in granting to our souls an inviolable peace, steadfastness in the faith and growth in virtue, strengthen us all.
In communing with the Body and Blood of Christ, we, as Holy Scripture puts it, may become ‘participants of the divine nature’ (2 Pet 1:4), we can change our natural condition. Through communion we are given the chance to be likened to him who for our sake ‘emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on the cross’ (Phil 2:7-8).
Our moral and spiritual transformation is the main pledge and foundation for the transfiguration of the life of society, the nation and the country. It is impossible to change for the better the whole without perfecting its parts. The correct mental perception of people from all age, social and political groups determines the well-being of our homeland. Our vectors in life will shape the development of all the countries of historical Rus’, our Church and, by extension, of all of God’s creation, entrusted to us by the Creator to preserve and ‘keep it’ (Gen 2:15).
I prayerfully wish you all, my dear ones, the abiding presence of joy in the risen Conqueror of Hades and abundant aid from above in your everyday labours.
TRULY CHRIST HAS RISEN!
Amen.
+KIRILL,
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Pascha 2012