[00:00] Speaker 1: (organ plays)

[01:19] Speaker 1: (singing)

[06:09] Speaker 2: (instrumental music plays)

[11:04] Speaker 2: Unidentified voices Ride on King Jesus, ride on king jesus, ride on king jesus, ride on king jesus, ride on king jesus, ride on king jesus,.<|agent|><|en|>

[11:41] Speaker 3: The dawn ahead of us may gain, Before us sheaves of white rain, The kingdom peace is crowning thee, Thy savior pow'r appears clear: UNIDENTIFIED VOICES Ride on King Jesus ,ride on King Jesus,Ride On King Jesus, RIde on King Jesús.Ride, ride on royal Queen Mary, Ride on down to Bridgetown. Ride along ye pilgrims, Ride on till Eucharist, Goodbye to cares beyond the sea, Drive safely home, Godspeed, Be safe til springtime. Fire is burning inside my brain, Fire is breaking out to set me free, Set me free, Lord set me free, Set me free, Free indeed, Free once and forevermore. Amen. Hallelujah halleluia halle lu jah hellelu ja hall elu ya Hall lell uja . Hall ellu ja Hall ll u Ja hall ellyuja. New York city sing together now. Sing it loud sang it proud. Sing it high singing for joy. Sing it strong sing it bold sung with heart and soul his praise tomorrow. Hey hey yay yey hey hey. His praise today. Praise him again tonight. In loving kindnes show himself divine.

[12:10] Speaker 3: Love came walking into my life loved me true loves me dear beloved its truly mine. When I lost my sin when I fell short miss mercy told me i'd die without his grace would go nowhere he brought me here. Now i'm found d within im nothing without. Im totally renewed im saved i wont leave cause Ive met Christ whose worth touts eternally thats holy words those he spoke gave their lives whom should men love daily more give themselves away wholly for others god wants everyone to live close to Him each very second everyday so fill your cup lord with love food for thought feed thy flock bring hope to world spread kindness throughout all things done with love known as christ ourselves. Thats whats real that stands eternal crown of glory always shall ring round the earth. Healed by faith healed by word healed by sight sealed by faith sealed by foot seal by fire. No grave can keep me apart since death couldn't keep him far.

[12:10] Speaker 3: From love to hate hatreds dark night turns to days when mornings star lights shine bright heaven's gate swings wide open wide opens wide opes. If you wait upon his promise land promised does exist hes kept his end promises best kept secret none can forget so tell all yo friends bout the gospel message sent. Its getting late better head home quick maybe seen a ghost theres somethings wrong dont sleep alone walkin' in the moonlight stay off these streets they aren't nice sometimes I wonder why Allah designed me such a life. Everyones gone aside everybody dies except for christ whos alive. Everybody says goodbye everybody cries later on they realize chris isn't died. There ain't no hellfire when you die hosanna to the lamb cuz he tells man to stand. Everybody raise your hand anybody hurt somebody mind telling em damn.

[12:12] Speaker 3: Anybody yell amen break it down lil Cuz years old pray for southside praying for northside praying for east coast west coast center city downtown country sides suburban skies urban glades Urban decay suburban decay suburbans pay urban price urban decline suburban decline suburban decline suburban crime Suburban crime suburban grime suburban grind suburban climb suburban vine suburban wine suburban dine suburban spine suburban shrine suburban rhyme suburban lime suburban prime suburban crime suburban fine suburban win suburban wine suburban sign suburban pine suburban vine suburban wine suburban wine suburban dance suburban dance suburban dance northern breeze blowing through palm trees feeling lucky cool cats dancing bears skunked huh beer drinking rockstar party beach baby blue sky beautiful girl glad we could carry her pretty lady pass me a beverage.

[12:12] Speaker 3: Ladies and gentlemen ladies and gentleman lets hear it for the band one more timewill the band playone motimeweellthebandplayonemoretimewillthefanflayonceimoremoretime.Ride on, King Jesus, ride on. No man can ah, hinder me. Ride on, King Jesus, ride on.

[12:40] Speaker 4: (Instrumental music)

[18:11] Speaker 3: Glory, laud, and honor, to you, Redeemer, king. To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring. Who are the King of angels bowing low to the Son, now in the heights in glory, crowned with everlasting arms. O Lord, we love and honor you, Redeemer, King. To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring. The company of angels is praising you on high, and we with all creation in chorus make reply. Glory, laud, and honor to you, Redeemer, King. To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring. All people of the Hebrews their songs before you blend; the priests and reverents before you keepstain. Glory, laud, and honor to you, Redeemer, King. To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring. (Instrumental music) To you, God in motion, blessed names of grace, to you, the High Exalted, are melody and words. Glory, laud, and honor to you, Redeemer, King. To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.

[18:26] Speaker 5: All right, children. Before I dismiss you to go to your children's worship, there's no children's sermon today even though it says so in your bulletin, that's wrong. There's no children's sermon. Right after this, you're going to your worship centers and I'm gonna greet all of you and all the people. I wanted to say a few words about why we were doing this. You th- I think you know why we're waving palm branches this morning, right? It's Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday, right? And this is the day when we remember that Jesus came to Jerusalem for the first time and when he came, he rode on a donkey and people were so excited they got up and they waved palm branches and they put coats in front of them and they said, "Hosanna to the son of David." It was, it was a happy day when Jesus came in. And it's kind of a happy day now as I look around at people and they see you waving your palms, they're smiling too. But even though it was a happy day, what came after that, right?

[19:19] Speaker 6: Yeah.

[19:20] Speaker 5: Was not so happy.

[19:22] Speaker 6: He died.

[19:22] Speaker 5: He, right. He came to Jerusalem to die for us. And so people would hurt him in his body, right? They put nails in his hands, they'd slap him, they'd spit on him. And then they did mean things to him, right? All his disciples left, someone betrayed him, they called him names. He did all that for us. He died on the cross for us. And so this week in, in our church, we'll remember that too and that won't always be so easy. But then next Sunday, even though this week is sad, next Sunday, oh my goodness. Something amaz-... Don't... I'm not gonna say it yet. I'm not gonna tell you what it is yet.

[20:00] Speaker 6: Tell me.

[20:00] Speaker 5: If you wanna know what happens next Sunday morning, you gotta come back and see. But now let me greet you. Congregation, grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father, from Christ His Son, through the mighty and powerful work of His Holy Spirit.

[20:17] Speaker 7: Amen.

[20:18] Speaker 5: Off you go.

[20:20] Speaker 8: (clears throat) Amen. And welcome to Palm Sunday worship here at La Grave Avenue Christian Reformed Church. Whether you're here present with us physically or worshiping online, we're glad that you're with us. After worship, there will be time for coffee and fellowship in the multipurpose room. Uh, that's straight down the hallway and then to your right. And as you go down the hall, be sure to take notice of the Missionary of the Week on the left side of the wall. And, uh, there are a number of opportunities for learning and growth during the 10:00 hour after this service, so take note of those in the bulletin. And be sure to read the whole bulletin to check for, uh, events coming up today and, uh, in the weeks to come.

[21:11] Speaker 8: We'll begin our confession time this morning by singing the Call to Confession printed in the bulletin, and then we'll go right to the responsive reading of the Prayer of Confession, and then after that, after a short pause in silence, we'll go to the responsive reading of the Assurance of Pardon.

[21:28] Speaker 7: (singing) Take you not hailings, from your god and king. Though you will all our hearts with strength and mind, I see your cross there, teach my heart to flee. Oh, let me see you and your heavenly love.

[22:38] Speaker 8: Lord Jesus-

[22:39] Speaker 7: We come to you to lay down our burdens and weariness.

[22:45] Speaker 8: Our burdens of anxiety, pain, sin, confusion, disappointment, grief, and overwork.

[22:53] Speaker 7: We receive from you the rest you promised, rest for body and soul.

[23:00] Speaker 8: We take upon ourselves your yoke to learn from you.

[23:05] Speaker 7: For your yoke is easy and your burden is light.

[23:10] Speaker 8: And you are gentle and humble in heart.

[23:13] Speaker 7: So we leave with you our burdens.

[23:16] Speaker 8: And receive from you forgiveness, healing, strength, direction, love, and grace.

[23:24] Speaker 7: Thank you, Jesus. We pray in your name. Amen.

[23:33] Speaker 8: He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.

[23:42] Speaker 7: By His wounds, we are healed.

[23:45] Speaker 8: For we were like sheep going astray.

[23:48] Speaker 7: But now we have returned to the shepherd and overseer of our souls. (music)

[24:33] Speaker 6: ... days of our life, in His faithful keeping, in His excellent grace, what more can we say, but to You we extend, to You alone, Jesus and friend. If through the deep waters I call you to go, though the rivers of sorrow shall mad overflow, for I will be with you each troubled to rest, and sanctify to you through deepest distress. And through fiery trials your hand they shall find, thy grace all sufficient shall be your supply. The flame shall not hurt you, I only design, your dross to consume, and your gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to His foes. As soul on a ship that sails over sea, I'll never, no never, never, never leave.

[26:58] Speaker 8: We have two announcements before we pray. Uh, first is that Carol VanBruggen passed away this past Thursday afternoon. Her funeral will be held next Thursday at Zaagman at 11:00 AM with visitation from 10:00 to 11:00. And we need to pray for Jack VanSledrick who is in the hospital undergoing a procedure to deal with serious blood crat- blood clots. Let's go to God in prayer. (clears throat) Heavenly Father, we wholeheartedly thank You for Your constant grace and faithfulness to us in Christ Jesus, through the work of Your Holy Spirit. Truly You are, as the psalmist writes, "Righteous in all Your ways and faithful in all you do." You are near to all who call on You, to all who call on You in truth. We are truly calling on You now, Lord God, and we are counting on Your nearness to us and on Your listening ear. We thank You, Lord, for provisions far beyond our needs.

[27:58] Speaker 8: We pray for those with unmet needs that they will also experience Your provision and that by sharing with each other all needs will be met. Give us also generous hearts and pocket books to share with those outside the church who are in need. We thank You, Lord, that in a world of much conflict, we are relatively safe and secure. Continue to watch over us, we pray. May our ultimate trust be in You rather than in money and military might. We thank You, Lord, for our pers- military personnel and pray that You will keep them safe. In particular, we pray for members of our congregation sacrificially serving in our nation's military, for Tim VanBeck and Blake Huizenga. We thank You that they are not now stationed on the war front. Watch over them always, we pray, and enable them to continue serving You with honor. We pray, Lord, too, that our nation and its military will be an influence for peace, justice, and freedom in our world.

[28:59] Speaker 8: And so we ask, God of Peace, that You will bring to an end the current wars, especially in the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine, and that there will be no further loss of innocent lives. We turn now to specific needs and concerns in our congregation. We thank You, Lord, for the birth of Arlo Vincent on March 14, to Jenna and Ray Venezia, and Arlo's three sisters. We thank You for Carol VanBruggen's life, and faithfulness to You, and Your faithfulness to her, and for assurance that she is now in Your presence. Be with her family and loved ones as they celebrate her life and grieve her passing. We lift up to You Dan Gorris as he recovers at home after a stroke, and for Millie- Millie Vriend as she continues recovering at home. We pray that Jim Kroll's radiation for multiple mi- myeloma will be successful, as well as Stu Cucchi's treatment for prostate cancer. We pray for Steve Palazzolo, that his bone marrow transplant will prove to be effective.

[30:01] Speaker 8: We lift up to you J- Jack VanSledrick, O Lord, in the hospital undergoing a procedure to deal with serious blood clots, that this procedure will be successful. We also pray, Lord, for those in hospice, those dealing with cancer, and those with various other continuing needs, as well as many battling upper respiratory infections and allergies this season. We give thanks, Lord, for answered prayer, for those who have been ill and have been healed or are recovering. And we pray, Lord, for those who are single and would like to be married, those whose marriages have en- ended due to divorce or death, and those who parent alone.In a special way, we ask You to be with those dealing with these challenges, that they will experience wholeness and fulfillment. This week, in which we remember Your suffering and death for us, Lord Jesus, we pray that You will bless us with meaningful reflections individually, as families, and corporately.

[30:59] Speaker 8: May this be a time of spiritual growth in our lives as we ponder what it means to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow You. We are reminded of Your words, Jesus, that when You would be lifted up from the Earth on the cross, You would draw all people to Yourself. We pray that that will happen even this week as many people who do not yet believe in You will hear about Your death on the cross and Your resurrection, that they too will be drawn to You and put their faith in You. And so, we pray for all of our missionaries as they may have unique opportunities to proclaim the Gospel this week. We pray today especially for Kay and KS, serving in South Asia, who've gone through several cycles of cold and flu in recent months. Thank You that Kay was discharged after a bout with pneum- pneumonia. Grant them quick and complete healing, we pray, and provide for all their needs. Bless their disc- discipleship and coaching ministry.

[32:00] Speaker 8: We offer to You all these prayers, Lord God, in the mighty name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

[32:29] Speaker 6: (singing) My song is love unknown. My Savior's love to me. Love to the loveless shown. That they might lovely be. O who am I that for my sake. The Lord should take. Frail flesh and die. Sometimes they strew His way. And His sweet praises sing. Resounding all the day. Hosannas to their King. Then Crucify is all their breath. And for His death. They fast and cry. Why, what has my Lord done. To cause this rage and spite. He made the lame to run. And gave the blind their sight. What injuries. Yet these are why. The Lord most high. So cruelly dies. So cruelly dies. My Savior dies. My song of love. So cruelly dies. Here lie twice slayed and sealed.

[35:29] Speaker 6: Of Him my soul adores. Ever was love made. Never was grief like Yours. This is, my friend, His dear sweet writ. For all my days could gladly spend. Could gladly spend. My song is love. (instrumental music plays) (organ music plays) (singing) Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host.

[38:21] Speaker 6: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

[39:03] Speaker 5: (instrumental music plays)

[42:24] Speaker 5: Our Bible reading this morning is from the Gospel of Mark, Mark chapter 15. I'll read verses 33 through 37. That's found on page 1,587 in your pew Bibles. And just a little word before I start. Uh, today, um, we're finishing up our sermon series on the cross. Uh, next week is ... Well, I'll give it away now. Uh, Easter, right? I didn't tell the kids. I'll tell you.And, and so, uh, today we'll be focusing on, um, a sort of a doctrinal piece about what we believe about the cross. And it's a doctrine we are pretty familiar with, because it's one of the doctrines in the Apostle's Creed, which is, of all the creeds, that's the one we, we say the most. The Apostle's Creed, I think most of you know, for those of you who don't, it's a summary of Christian belief, 13 articles that summarize the, the central things of what we believe that the Bible teaches. It's a broadly believed creed.

[43:24] Speaker 5: It's what they call an ecumenical creed, which means just about every single church that's sort of orthodox, small "o" orthodox Christian believes these things. So Baptists believe them, Methodists believe them, Christian Reform believe them, Presbyterians, uh, the Eastern Orthodox traditions, the Roman Catholics, they all believe what is said in the Apostle's Creed. And because it deals with central things, of course the creed talks about the cross. And so the creed says, as you know, that "He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried." And then the bit that I'm interested in today, "He descended into hell." So when you hear those words of the creed about the cross, it forms a kind of a story, okay? "He suffered under Pontius Pilate," right? We know that story. We've read that in the Bible. Clearly biblical. Uh, "He suffered, died, and was buried." We know that story. That's very clearly in the Bible.

[44:25] Speaker 5: "He descended into hell." Okay, that's familiar to us, but where is that? Where does the Bible talk about that? Where is that in scripture? That's what I want us to look at this morning. What, why, where is that in scripture, and why is this something that is viewed as centrally important, so centrally important that it made it into the Apostle's Creed? For that, I'm gonna read what our catechism says about the creed, and we're gonna do that together. That's in your liturgy, so take them out and then I'll read what Mark says. And also, as you take out your liturgies to read, notice you have a, a, maybe you've seen this already, an unusual picture on the cover of your bulletin. Keep those out. I'm going to, this is, that's not by accident. I'm gonna talk about that a little bit later in my sermon. Let's read together what the catechism says about this article of the creed.

[45:18] Speaker 5: "Why does the creed add ‘he descended into hell?" To assure me during attacks of deepest dread and temptation that Christ my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul on the cross, but also earlier, has delivered me from the hellish anguish and torment. And now, these words from Mark chapter 15. "At noon, darkness came over the whole land until 3:00 in the afternoon. And at 3:00 in the afternoon, Jesus cried out from the cross in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' Which means 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah." And someone ran and, and filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "'Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down.' He said. And then with a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last." This is the word of the Lord.

[46:44] Speaker 6: Thanks be to God.

[46:53] Speaker 5: He descended into hell. What are we talking about biblically speaking now? What are we talking about when we talk about hell? What do we mean when we say he descended into hell? What is this place, biblically speaking? Um, biblically, hell is a little bit complicated, because there's at least three different words in scripture that talk about, uh, the place that we go after we die. And there's a kind of development of the idea as you start in the Old Testament and into the New. Things develop more in the New Testament. So one of the words is Sheol. You've probably heard that word Sheol. The Psalms use the word Sheol a lot. So Psalm 6:5. "Among the dead, no one praises your name. Who praises you from Sheol?" So in the Old Testament, Sheol is like the realm of the dead. It's the place that you go when you die, and it's a sort of a shady realm, right? It's just a shady realm where souls go. It's not a place of judgment in the Old Testament view, right?

[47:57] Speaker 5: It's just where you go when you die, right? Kind of a shady place and not a very nice place. In the New Testament, another word that sort of is an afterlife word is the word Hades. Hades is kind of the Greek version of Sheol, okay? Hades also is a kind of the place where the shades go. It's the shadowy realm of the dead. That's what you see in Greek mythology, that's what you see in Greek writing. And in fact, in the, in the, uh, the Greek version of the Old Testament, so when they translated the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, the word they used for Sheol was Hades. So again, a shadowy realm, and then not, in the Greek view, a place of judgment, although in the New Testament, you see that start to change. Hades isn't just a place where the dead go, it's also a place of judgment. It's not just a place of the dead-... in the New Testament it starts to also become a place of damnation. So for example, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, remember that one, right?

[49:09] Speaker 5: The rich man ends up being consigned to Hades because he ignored the poor who were all around him at his gates. And it says that he is in torment there in that fire, right? So you sense a change. It's not just the realm of the souls, it's now, there's some judgment involved. Which leads us to the third word that is used for something that comes after this life, and that's gehenna. And gehenna in the New Testament is very definitely a place of judgment. It's a place of fire and it's the place where wicked people go and are consigned to judgment, as we understand it. And so that shows up in places like Matthew 5:22, where Jesus says, "Anyone who calls his brother or sister a fool is in dangers of the fire of hell." That word is gehenna. Or Matthew 23:15, where Jesus says to the Pharisees, "You brood of vipers, what's gonna prevent you from being sentenced to hell?" And the word there is gehenna.

[50:15] Speaker 5: So it's especially gehenna that develops this idea that hell is the realm where Satan rules and where people are, the wicked are consigned, where they are sent. Okay. So Jesus says, or excuse me, the creed says that Jesus descended into hell. Does the creed mean to say by that, that after he died on the cross, Jesus physically went to the place where Satan rules and where their souls are kept in torment? Is that something the Bible teaches, and why would that teaching matter to us Christians? Well, for a lot of people in this world, that teaching wouldn't matter much at all, because belief in hell and belief in a personal devil is something that is, is dropping in our world. I did some research, looked at some surveys this week. In America, in the United States, belief in a personal devil and hell has dropped by, like, 20% in the last 20 years, okay? 20% fewer people believe in any such concept. And it's even more extreme o- over in Europe.

[51:30] Speaker 5: Like, so in Great Britain, only 20% of the people believe in hell, and only 20% of the people believe in a personal devil. And so for most of these people, most of the people in our culture, if you go to them and say, "Hey, Jesus descended into hell." They, their reaction is like, "Who cares?" Right? "Hell, that's just superstitious nonsense, superstitious mumbo-jumbo." But while that's what people say on an intellectual level, there are other things that modern secular people do that make me think that hell is still very much on people's minds. Let's talk about movies for a moment. As I think you all know, theatrical movies, um, it's, they're, they've kind of been in a decline, right? Since COVID, not as many people go to the movie theater to see movies. Uh, revenues are down. There is, however, one genre of movies where the revenues are not down, okay? There's one genre of movies that is thriving. Can you guess what genre this is? Horror movies. Horror movies.

[52:42] Speaker 5: 10 years ago, they were about 4% of the total box office, now they're about 15, right? They've tripled. Tripled as a percentage of box office. These movies that deal with very dark, evil, often supernatural things are more popular than ever. Isn't that interesting? Why is that? I think, and I can't prove this, but I have a strong feeling about it, I think it's because just because you don't believe in hell doesn't mean you can't feel its push. Just because you don't believe in a personal devil and the power of evil doesn't mean you can't feel the push of the power of evil in your life. Horror movies are popular, I think, because they help modern secular people deal with this reality that intellectually they say no to, but what they can still feel in their souls. Right? They can't escape these realities, and so they tell these stories to deal with this feeling. Here's a specific example.

[53:58] Speaker 5: A movie made 20 years ago which isn't strictly speaking a horror movie at all, The Dark Knight, right? Christopher Nolan's movie, The Dark Knight. Uh, what's the most compelling thing, memorable thing about that movie if you've seen it? It's the bad guy, right? The Joker. The Joker is an iconic movie bad guy. And what's interesting about the Joker is that he's very different from other bad guys, okay? In other movies, the bad guys, they have, they've, they've some sort of purpose that they're trying to accomplish, right? They want to get rich, they want to get a lot of money, or they want to rule the world, or, right? Or they want revenge. If you've seen the movie, does the Joker want any of those things? All the Joker's interested in is mayhem. He just wants to burn everything down. There's a scene in the movie where he, he gets a whole bunch of money, he robs and he gets a whole bunch of money. What does he do with it? He burns it. He burns it.

[54:54] Speaker 5: He doesn't want to buy something with it. He just wants to create chaos. He just wants to set people against each other. He just wants people to spiral down into violence and anger and despair, okay?Here's how he describes his own motivations in the movie. "I'm an agent of chaos. Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. Everyone's close to madness. All they need is a little push." The Joker is an embodiment of the meaninglessness, the nothingness, the chaos, the anarchy, the despair of hell. Society says it doesn't believe in hell, but it keeps telling these stories and creating these characters because it needs a way to deal with what it feels, a reality that is there, even if it is intellectually denied. And we feel that reality too. Whenever life struggles, whenever the things happen to us in this life that make us question God's goodness or question God's plan or make us say at a deep level, "What is going on?

[56:13] Speaker 5: What is the meaning of this?", we feel the weight of hell on our souls. The dark spirit of hell whispers in our ears, "There is no plan, there is no goodness, and you are all alone." When a beautiful young person is diagnosed with a disease that threatens her life, when she's so bright and so full of life and loves Jesus, but now her life is threatened, what's the meaning of this? Where's the plan? Where's the goodness? When someone we love and need is crushed under the weight of anxiety or depression, they were a light, beautiful person who supported us and now they're completely unavailable and we cannot find them back, what is the meaningless? What is the meaning of this? Where's the goodness? Where's the plan? When you lose a loved one and even though that the loss was long ago, you, you still can't get over it, you still feel the weight and the trauma of that loss, it's still a cloud in your life, where's the goodness? Where's the plan?

[57:30] Speaker 5: Whenever these things happen to us and we feel the weight of that pressure, we feel the weight of despair and chaos in our life, that is a hellish place to be, and we've been there. It is against that feeling and it is against that sense of despair that pushes against us that the creed declares Jesus Christ has descended into hell. He has descended into hell for us, against that feeling and against that reality. What exactly do we mean when we say that? There's been two things in the Christian tradition that we meant- mean to say when we proclaim those words. First is what I read in the Heidelberg Catechism, this is the way of John Calvin too, and that's when we say when Jesus descended into hell, he went down and experienced with us all the chaos, all the meaninglessness, all the despair. So in our tradition, when we asked the question that I asked at the beginning of the, of the sermon, where in the Bible does it show Jesus descending into hell?

[58:36] Speaker 5: It was the passage I just read, right? Because in that passage, Jesus is descending into the pain, right? He's... Physical pain. His friends are gone, he's feeling abandonment, he's feeling all alone, and then when he cries out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", that's the sense of... Th- that even God has become hard for him to find. He can't see his father's face in the middle of that storm. Right? Hell, we say, is, is to be completely separated from God. That's what Jesus is feeling there. He's feeling the pressures of hell. And that's also what the catechism says, right? In all his struggles, but especially in his anguished pain and tear of soul on the cross, Jesus descends into hell. And Jesus went there to rescue us. When we say he descended into hell, what we're saying is that there is no pain or disillusionment that a human being can feel that Jesus hasn't already felt.

[59:37] Speaker 5: Depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, dementia, temptation, guilt, shame, Jesus has borne all those feelings. Wherever you find yourself, Jesus has gone to that place so that he could be with you and so that he could pull you out of that place. That's why he descended into hell. That's what Calvin says. But then did he really go to that place? Is it just a feeling or is it just that Jesus bears those kind of emotional things that we go to when we feel the pressure of hell? Or did Jesus really, after he died, go to the realm of the dead, go to Satan's realm? Calvin doesn't think so, but there are a lot of Christians who do. The Catholics believe this, the Orthodox believe this. They teach, and so do a lot of Protestant churches, they teach that after Good Friday, after the day that he died, Jesus goes to the realm of hell and descends into hell, and then he comes out of it on the third day when he's raised from the dead.

[01:00:53] Speaker 5: And they believe, these traditions, that he did that to rescue all the Old Testament saints. He went there to pull out all those Old Testament Saints who'd been there since the Old Testament to show his power over the devil and to snatch the keys of death and Hades out of Satan's hands. Here's how the Catholic Catechism puts it.... "in His human soul united to His divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just," Old Testament saints, "who had gone before Him." They call that, these traditions, the Harrowing of Hell, which brings me to the picture that is on the cover of your bulletin. Okay? That's the scene that is pictured on the cover of your bulletin, the Harrowing of Hell. Just take a look at it. See, Jesus has kicked down the door of hell, right? You see that there's a demon smooshed under the door there, right?

[01:01:48] Speaker 5: He's destroyed the power of the devil and He's taking a hold of Abraham, I think it is,'s arm, and He's going to pull Abraham up, and all those others, and He's going to bring them up into the heavenly places. Harrowing of Hell. For a lot of Christians when they talk about j- when, when we say Jesus descended into hell, they have a picture like this in their mind. There's tons and tons of Christian art throughout history that depicts this scene. It's also depicted in liturgy. So if you were to go to a, a service on Saturday, on Holy Saturday, so that's the day between Good Friday and Sunday. On Holy Saturday, if you go to a church service in an Eastern Orthodox church, there'll be a point in the service where the pastor or the priest would say, "Arise, Lord." And as soon as he said that, everyone would start banging on their pews, stomping their feet.

[01:02:44] Speaker 5: People bring pots and pans to church and they bang them together, and all of that is meant to be the sound of Jesus harrowing Hell; knocking down the doors, smashing the devil's power to smithereens. That sounds like a cool practice, but is it Biblical? Did Jesus really do this? Is that, is that something that the Bible teaches? After reading Calvin and Bavinck and others this week, I'm not so sure. The two passages that people point to for this are Ephesians 4:9, where it says that Jesus descended to the lower earthly regions, and 1 Peter 3:18-22, which is a really, really confusing and difficult passage, where it says that after His death and resurrection, Jesus went to preach to the imprisoned spirits from the time of Noah who were disobedient long ago. Now, after studying this week, I ... Those are hard passages, but I honest- I don't think that they teach that Jesus actually physically descended into hell. Remember, Jesus says, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Right?

[01:04:00] Speaker 5: So I think that in His soul He went to be with His Father in Heaven. And yet, there is a way in which I feel that this picture is true. Did Jesus, by His death and resurrection, destroy the power of the devil? Yes. Did Jesus, by His death and resurrection, destroy the power of evil over us? Yes. Did Jesus, by His death and resurrection, make it possible for us to stand by the gravesides of our loved one and say, "Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?" Yes. Did Jesus, by His death and resurrection, promise us that someday He would kick open the door of our grave, He would kick open our coffin and take us by the wrist and pull us up to be with Him forever and ever into eternity? Yes, and yes, and yes. So do I believe that Jesus on Holy Saturday physically went to hell? No. But if I'm ever in an Orthodox church on Holy Saturday and the priest says, "Arise, oh Lord," I'm going to stomp my feet and I'm going to whack the pew in front of me.

[01:05:23] Speaker 5: And if I bring a pot and pan, I'm going to bang it for all it's worth. Because when Jesus descended into hell, He didn't just feel what I am feeling. He broke the power of the devil for me. Amen. Thank you, Lord, for the fullness of Your Gospel and the fullness of Your testimony of what You did on the cross. Lord, You know how the troubles of life afflict us. And Lord, sometimes we admit it, these troubles cause us to lose sight of Your presence and lose sight of Your face. Thank You that in this place, Lord, we hear You proclaim Your good news again, and remind us that there is no place that we can't, that we can go where You are not with us. Give us strength, Lord. Help us to live as victorious and hopeful people in the face of all the world's evils. In Jesus' name. Amen.

[01:06:25] Speaker 5: (organ music) (organ music continues)

[01:07:23] Speaker 6: Jesus, author of my soul, let me to Thy cross apply; while on the miry road which led to Gethsemane I viewed through the veil Thy suffering, I behold the Savior dying; still the scourged Lamb appears bright, speaking to the pain and fright of which we might soon be free. Father, let me tell Thine own, beg thy help, the soul unhappy, who, though he be not alone, sins support and comfort thee; for my trust in Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring; thou, through holiness, protect with thy shadow o'er me. When life's billows deadly is high, peace and joy from God my Savior, no more to yield the spirit of I, yea, now to the Lord I pray; the Lord, my strong Exodus from death, redeemeth to ten thousand homes, saved out of hell, redeemed by His love, Christ, the life, His praise.

[01:10:01] Speaker 5: Receive the blessing of your God. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all.

[01:10:11] Speaker 6: Amen. (chanting) Amen. (chanting) Amen. (chanting) Amen. (chanting) Amen. (chanting) Amen.

[01:10:34] Speaker 6: (instrumental music(musique)