I was asked about the Apostle's Creed mentioning that Jesus went to hell between dying on Friday and rising on Sunday (today!). I responded that this is not referring to the Hell as we know it, but to the Abode of the Dead, where everyone from Adam to John the Baptist had to wait until Christ died. So that was his first visit after the cross.
I was also asked to elaborate on Isaiah's Suffering Servant message, so I added an introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the origin of Qumran, and a concluding Easter message after Isaiah's reading. So, if you don't need to read Isaiah again, just skip over that part. Happy Easter to everyone and your families! Ron
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As you may recall, the prophecies about the coming of the Jewish Messiah can be found in numerous Old Testament writings, such as Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
Early on, it was hard for me to believe that many of these prophecies were written 500 to 1000 years before Jesus lived, especially since our earliest surviving copies of Jewish or Christian bibles were from several hundred years after he lived. At least, that was my opinion in my atheist days.
However, I was unaware at the time that in 1947, just after WWII ended, 12 caves were discovered in the NW cliffs of the Dead Sea, along with a buried town called Qumran, just below those caves on the edge of the sea.
Qumran's inhabitants back then, now known as the Essenes, turned out to be a Jewish, monastic community (like a monastery). The name "Essenes" was assigned to them by scholars later on (it means "pious ones"); but they actually called themselves the Sons of Light and Members of the Covenant.
Discovered in these 12 caves were many large, clay jars covered by bat droppings which, along with the dry environment (Qumran is the lowest place on earth), preserved its contents, now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
What happened to Qumran?
Recall that the Romans besieged and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. Forewarned by the siege of Jerusalem, the Essenes had barely enough time to hide their scrolls in difficult-to-reach caves in the cliffs above, before the Romans arrived and totally destroyed Qumran.
The scrolls
In the years of excavation following the discovery of the caves, over 900 scrolls and 10,000 parchment fragments were recovered, which have since been carbon-dated to the 1st to 3rd century BCE.
Included in these 900+ scrolls were most of the Old Testament Hebrew scriptures, along with many manuscripts describing the monastic community's daily life, as well as communications with the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jerusalem about religious matters, as the Essenes were considered the most knowledgeable, traditional, (and extreme) Jewish sect at the time.
The Essenes
Historically, the Essenes had broken off from Jerusalem around 250 BC because the Jewish rulers at the time (the Maccabees) took control of the Temple priesthood and appointed their own priests, who eventually became known as the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus' time. The Essenes considered them to be corrupt and illegitimate priests of the Temple, so they packed their bags and moved out (or maybe they were chased out!).
The Essenes established their new community 20 miles west of Jerusalem on the edge of the Dead Sea, because that was where the Messiah was expected to make his arrival -- where the Jordan River empties into the northern mouth of the Dead Sea. This was exactly where Moses brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery 1300 years earlier, which was not accidental since the Messiah was prophesied to start where Moses left off and initiate a "New Exodus" and bring about a "New Promised Land." (As you now know, that is also where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and began his teaching.)
One of the most prolific Old Testament prophets to write about the Messiah was Isaiah. Included in the 900 scrolls were several copies of all 66 chapters of Isaiah's book. Stunningly, these early Hebrew versions were nearly identical to our modern copies of Isaiah, which meant that nothing had been altered, after all.
It is useful to note that there were three kinds of prophecies in Old Testament writings. Some described the coming of a "Kingly Messiah" -- like another King David -- who would hopefully run off their hated Roman occupiers. Indeed, Jewish tradition said that this Messiah would be a New King David.
Still, other prophecies spoke of a "Priestly Messiah," like Moses or Aaron. Indeed, this Messiah was also to be a New Moses, who would usher in a New Exodus.
And, finally, some prophecies described a "Suffering Messiah," like many of the prophets who were murdered because nobody liked their messages (warnings from God). Indeed, he was to be a prophet like no other. However, nobody talked much about the Suffering Messiah because such thinking was inexplicably negative: the Messiah was expected to be a hero who would save them.
So, exactly who this Messiah would be was, understandably, perplexing. Many concluded that there would be more than one Messiah.
The Essenes were not taking any chances, and in Qumran they began the work of preparing for all three Messiahs. They built weapons so they would be ready for the Kingly Messiah; their scribes recreated copies (by hand, of course) of the writings of Moses and the Prophets for the Priestly Messiah; and they prayed about the Suffering Messiah since they didn't know what else to do for him :). Little did they realize that all these prophesies would be fulfilled in the same person. Jesus was of the line of David, Mary was of the line of priests, and Jesus would also walk in the shoes of the prophets and be treated just like them.
In honor of Good Friday - the day Jesus was beaten, mocked, and crucified - I have selected a reading from Isaiah about the Suffering Messiah, written about 550 years before he lived. In the excerpt below, Isaiah is relating God's message to him about the Messiah as a suffering servant.
God said his servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even so, many were amazed at him—so marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man—so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; for those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it.
Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the God laid the guilt of us all upon him. 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.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, a grave was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood.
But because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days. Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear....because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the transgressors; and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for our offenses.
-- Isaiah 52:13-15, 53:4-9,11-12
So, although Jesus came to preach God's love and forgiveness to us, our official response, described above, was because he threatened to turn the power structures of the world (and of our own minds) upside down. Yet, God continues to take the bad things we do and turn them into good. If you read the ending again that begins with "Through his suffering...", it speaks of justice. It has long been held that the human race could not possibly survive perfect justice, and so we avoid or even denigrate the mere idea. Yet, we cannot hide from the fact that justice is in our human-spiritual DNA. True to our fallen nature, most of us really only want real justice for others, not ourselves; we typically think we should given a free pass.
But, there is some very strange good news stated in this passage. Insanely and counter-intuitively, God is accepting the torture and death of himself/Jesus as substitutive payment for humanity's past, and ongoing, atrocities against itself and against Him (this includes all of us on an individual level). Such a decision satisfies the requirement for justice, which is why God is now offers all humans forgiveness, just for-the-asking. This baffling turn of events indicates to what extent God is willing to go just to reconnect with us.
I can only think of one example that might illustrate such a crazy, impossible degree of love: parents for their children. Yes, many parents would insanely do all of this to save their child. Or, if your child later became estranged, how far might you be willing to go to have them back? I know what my answer would be.
But, then, God makes this same claim about us; for we are but spiritual children of this amazing, incomprehensible Author of Existence and Love.
And that is why today is not called Bad Friday.
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