Nine Days in Heaven: A True Story (25 page)

Victory to Apollyon.
Today I am victorious over these men.
They have condemned the innocent.

Ten thousand hoarse, sepulchral voices chanted.

“Hail, Prince of Darkness, all hail! You are victorious. Men and women will feel the sting of death. Go up to victory! Go up! Now we shall rise up from below to witness the God-Man as He writhes beneath the scorpion lash and agonizes on the Roman cross.”

“Ah-ha, ah-ha!” came the swelling volumes from the haunts of demons below. The air was rent with loud applause, which swelled and joined with the hellish chant of the mad crowd.

Then a voice cried out in deep anguish.

“Hasn’t this gone far enough? Justice, are you totally unbending? Isn’t the ransom complete? Do we have to endure this any longer? He is innocent. Does He have to suffer further? Please spare Him! Look, His back is torn with lashes, and His temples are bleeding! His whole body is shaking! Does the power of evil have to win?”

Justice answered, “He is taking on the suffering of the fallen race and must endure it until the appointed time. But you must understand that His life is not being taken from Him against His will—He Himself is giving it up.
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Satan and evil will triumph for a time, but Jesus will enter the house of this strongman
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and plunder him.”

S
TILL THEY PLACED UPON HIS MANGLED
BACK THE HUGE ENGINE UPON WHICH
TO EXECUTE HIM, AND FORCED HIM
ALONG, AMID THE SHOUTS AND JEERS
AND BLASPHEMIES OF THE PEOPLE
,
TOWARD THE PLACE OF CRUCIFIXION
.

Again Jesus appeared before us. His body was disfigured, and He was weak and faint. In spite of this they placed the huge cross upon His mangled back and forced Him along toward the place of execution amidst the shouts, jeers, and blasphemies of the people.

Until this time I had been silent, awed by what I had seen. But as Jesus reeled beneath His load, while His body bled from the cruel lashes and His temples were gored and swollen from the crown of thorns, and as I heard the mad cry, “Away with Him, crucify Him, crucify Him!” I could endure it no longer. I cried out to my guide, “Why won’t Justice spare Him? Just let the guilty people suffer! They are the ones who violated the law. Let them live with the results! Don’t let this continue! Jesus should not have to bear the cross! He is only seeking to save them!”

But nothing changed. Jesus still stumbled slowly along, not speaking but looking on His tormentors with love and pity. He moved more and more unsteadily, until at last His strength gave out and He collapsed, lying still beneath His burden. For the first time His persecutors and crucifiers paused in their cruelty and showed some concern for Him. Perhaps their “concern” was because they felt they might not be able to enjoy His protracted suffering on the cross.

Jesus’s collapse had a profound effect on angels and children alike, and they instantly rose to try to help Him. But a distant voice halted them: “Stop! It is written of Him that He shall tread the winepress alone. You cannot help Him.”

“That is right,” added Justice, “but let all heaven and earth know that He willingly submits to this suffering for the sake of sinners. It is by His wounds that they are healed.
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He must now enter the gate of death in order to rescue those who have fallen because of their sin.”

Mercy then appeared above the cross. “Yes! He has offered Himself for sinners. Justice, here is the offering I bring.”

Justice replied, “You have seen His suffering, but know this! He suffers at the hands of those He came to rescue and not from any vindictive wrath of the Father. So you cannot speak against the goodness of the Lord Creator. This suffering has happened because of Jesus’s mission to rescue the heart of man. It is the nature of sin to oppose and try to destroy the good Jesus is doing. Sin is simply being revealed for what it really is.”

He continued, “If it was left uncontrolled, sin would make the heavens a place of lawless violence. It would shatter the government of the Lord Creator. It would demolish God’s throne and condemn eternal things to hell. Sin is the opposite of good. It is a fountain of evil intentions. This is why, when Jesus came to rescue sinners, the evil in them drove them to torture and destroy Him.

“…
FOR IT IS THE NATURE OF SIN THUS
TO OPPOSE AND INFLICT, AND SEEK TO
DESTROY GOOD, OR ITS MANIFESTATION
…”

“Jesus wants to save men’s souls. Demons want to destroy them. Jesus entered the world as man’s Redeemer. Apollyon came as destroyer. There can be no union between these two principles, and that is why Jesus is suffering. It is not by heaven’s decree but because of Jesus’s goodness and His plan to save the sinner. This is the reason He is entering the arena of combat with death and hell.”

“And will He succeed?” asked an angel who had been listening to Justice.

“Yes,” replied Mercy. “He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah; He is the bright Morning Star.
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He will succeed!”

“Alleluia! He will succeed!” cried the many thousands gathered there.

“His kingdom shall come, and His will shall be done.”
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“So shall it be,” said Justice.

Silence reigned once more. Nothing moved. Nothing disturbed that tense atmosphere while Justice and Mercy paused. It seemed that all who witnessed the scene, even earth’s wicked men and the evil spirits from below, had felt the innocence of Jesus. No fault could be found in Him—in His life, during His betrayal, or when He was condemned to the cross. During His life He had healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out evil spirits, bringing untold peace and happiness to the afflicted. He had comforted the brokenhearted, forgiven sinners, rebuked the morally depraved, and cleansed the temple of money changers. When He was opposed and persecuted, He had not abused His opponents, but He revealed to all a nature that could only be divine.

…
ALL WHO WITNESSED THE SCENE, EVEN
THE WICKED ON EARTH, AND THOSE FROM
SPHERES OF DARKNESS AMONG THE REGIONS
OF THE DEAD, AND THOSE FROM NETHER
ABODES WHERE EVIL REIGNS, FELT THE
INNOCENCE OF JESUS THE SUFFERER
.

When the cross was laid on His bleeding shoulders, He had accepted it and carried it along in the midst of gleeful shouts and bitter taunts. He endured the greatest humiliation as well as terrible physical pain, and when He fell exhausted beneath the cross, He simply looked on His tormentors with compassion and pity.

How could those onlookers fail to sympathize with Him? How could they not shed many tears? How could they refrain from adoring one so worthy?

Finally the soldiers commanded Jesus to get up and continue on to Calvary. Obedient, He struggled beneath the cross, but His trembling limbs failed, and He sank again in His agony, struggling convulsively to lift the cross again. Blood from His wounded body stained the ground. The ripped and hanging flesh quivered at the repeated strokes of the lash by the strong hand of the scourger. His “appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness.”
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Blood and tears concealed His eyes of love. His lips moved deliberately, speaking words of love and pity: “Sinner, I willingly suffer for you. I endure these things for you, so that you can be saved.”