The Earth Stands Still

Originally published in April 2021.

“This is the night,
when Christ broke the prison-bars of death
and rose victorious from the underworld.”

from the Exsultet (Easter Proclamation)

Today the earth stood still. Our Lord’s body is in the tomb. He has gone to the land of the dead. We are told in the Apostle’s Creed that “He descended into Hell.” Have you ever thought about that? It was not enough that Jesus died, He descended into hell to destroy death once and for all. How awesome is that? Jesus loved us so much that dying on the cross was not enough. He loved the people, even those who persecuted Him and who put Him to death, but He also loved those who have gone before Him. We are told that Jesus went to the place of the dead, broke open those gates, and brought with Him all the righteous - Abraham, Moses, and all those who have gone before Him, so that they could enjoy their eternal reward. He even brought with Him Adam and Eve. Jesus reversed what Adam did, being obedient to the Father, and not eating of the tree, but dying on it.

Jesus came for all, even those who have died before Him. That is why perhaps St. Paul wrote to the Philippians that “… so that at Jesus’ name every knee must bend, in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!”

Jesus didn’t just die on the cross. He went into Hell to bring with Him the righteous, definitively conquering death. On this day, the earth stood still. But soon, it will rumble because Jesus is making His way back up.

Ministry of Silence

“Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth.”

Isaiah 53:7

After Our Lord had been arrested and sentenced, we do not hear much from Him. Rather He remains relatively silent. This is His passion. It is a passivity, but not an idle one. This part of His life and ministry was one that was passive, one that was about what He allowed others to do to Him. His passion was what He suffered, what He permitted to be inflicted upon Himself for the sake of the Father’s will. Jesus’ passion was a ministry of silence.

It was through this ministry of silence that Our Lord’s mission was brought to completion and perfection. It was in His silence that He spoke the loudest. It is no wonder that it is said that God comes to us in the silence. For it is in the silence of our hearts that God meets us and speaks to us. It was not in the earthquake or fire that Elijah experienced God’s presence, but rather it was in the small still voice. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, Jesus “was silent and opened not His mouth,” but allowed the soldiers to strip Him and nail Him to the Cross, because it was there, in His silence, that God was present. It was His silence that moved the centurion to faith. How can one endure such pain and suffering and yet remain silent and unforgiving? It was incomprehensible to the people, but it moved them to think about all that was said about Jesus, and for some it brought them to faith. It was in His silent suffering that people came to experience the presence of God. May we today, sit in the silence, and meet the God who comes to us.

Model of Service

“I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

John 13:15

In the final hours before Our Lord suffers His passion, He chooses to eat the Passover with His disciples. On one hand, showing His faithfulness to the Jewish customs in remembering God’s saving work in the lives of the ancestors and on the other hand, bringing it to fulfillment. The Passover meal foreshadows the Last Supper, the Institution of the Eucharist. Just as the blood of a year-old unblemished lamb on their doorposts signaled the Angel of the Death to pass over their door and spare the first born of those within the house, so too, in the fullness of time, the blood of the True Lamb, the Lamb of God shed on the wood of the Cross saved and continues to save the people from their sin and from death.

During dinner, Jesus, the Lamb of God did something that was unheard of. He, the Teacher and Master put a towel around His waist, bent down, and washed His disciples feet. By doing so, Jesus tells Peter that He will have inheritance with Him, the inheritance of the Father, the truth of being a beloved son of the Father. However, this inheritance is not one of silver or gold, but rather of mission and service. A mission to raise up the lowly and to share with them the gift of salvation. A mission that extends beyond of the walls of Jerusalem and the land of Israel. This inheritance is to go and live knowing that one has been loved from all eternity, and loved so much that God entered into human history, becoming man, suffering, and dying so that we might live. And if one truly embraces this, there is one thing one must do: share this with others. This is the model Our Lord left to His disciples then and leaves to us today: to serve as Christ served, to forgive as Christ forgave, to love as Christ loved, to sacrifice as Christ sacrificed, and to lay down one’s life as Christ laid down His life.

The Lord gives unto us today this model of service, how will we respond? He asks us to love and serve, will we? He implores us to stay close to Him by lowering ourselves to be with the lowly, are we willing? He teaches us to forgive as He forgave the one who betrayed Him, can we forgive those who hurt us? We are called to be Christ to all peoples, will we rise to the occasion?