“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. -Isaiah 55:8
I believe scripture was not given to us as a cookbook, but more like a song or a poem–its meaning is not obvious. We are challenged to read, think, meditate, and through those, let God speak to each of us personally.
Recently, I pondered, what happened between the time Jesus died and the time Mary Magdalene discovered that His tomb was empty? We’ll never know for sure–at least while we’re still in this life.
Did His body lie there until Easter morning while his spirit experienced death as humans do? It’s possible, since Jesus was not only here to teach us, but also to experience human life first hand. Did this include all aspects of death? Jesus knows us not only by omniscience, but also by experience. When praying we dare not say, “You just don’t understand!”
Did His spirit, separated from his body return to Heaven? Also possible (as all things are to God), but I don’t find any reference that even obliquely hints at this. Instead, scripture seems to allude to the Ascension was His first return to Heaven.
Did His spirit merely rest along with His body? His human body was broken. He was divine, but still human. Would his human soul be weary? Most of us have experienced spiritual weariness and Jesus may have allowed the human side of his spirit experience what any human would have felt after such a death.
Thinking about the question made me feel just a tiny bit closer to Him. I don’t need to know exactly what happened. Whatever Jesus did was the right thing for both Heaven and Earth.
