Nine Days in Heaven: A True Story (28 page)

1.
“At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mark 15:33).

2.
“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots” (Luke 23:34).

3.
“The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One’” (Luke 23:35).

4.
“When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home” (John 19:26–27).

5.
“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’” (Luke 23:39).

6.
We read in Luke 23:40–43:

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

T
WENTY
-T
WO

Death Defeated

D
EEPER DARKNESS NOW BEGAN TO SHROUD THE SCENE
. N
O
sun or moon or stars were visible. Night veiled the earth.

After a long time, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
1
Somebody filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a stick, and touched His parched lips. This sight was too much for the children, so their guardians took them in their arms to support them.

A being of ghostly terror approached Jesus. Around him, circling like satellites, were multitudes of lesser creatures with the same appearance. A banner above the being proclaimed:
You will triumph, you are king.

He moved forward arrogantly, certain of victory in this mighty final conflict, a conflict that would settle the interests of the ages to come.

He spoke with a hoarse, sepulchral voice, a voice of terror, and addressed Jesus, who still hung on the cross. “I rise up to greet You in this Your day of madness. You are chained. You are victim. Angels, saints, and men have proclaimed Your triumph over death, but let me tell You that my name is Death!
2
You have set out to reverse the law by which I exist, the law that feeds the hungry graves. That law has always operated powerfully, and no one can hinder it. This day it will grapple with You, and You too will die. Look, I am about to smash You to pieces.”

Then, reaching out his hand, he seized the body of Jesus, who quivered as the cold fingers closed around Him.

Jesus cried out, “
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani
? My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
3
At His cry the voice of Justice rang out adamantly from above, “He must tread the winepress alone!”
4

“He is doing this alone!” It was the voice of Mercy. “He is alone, and He is suffering through it. He is dying for the world, the just for the unjust!”

“T
HEN
,”
SHOUTED
D
EATH
, “I
HAVE GOTTEN
THE VICTORY
. H
E WHO WAS IN THE
BEGINNING WITH
G
OD
,
ENTERETH THE
DESTRUCTIVE ELEMENTS WHERE VIOLATED
LAW BREAKETH IN PIECES THE VIOLATOR
.”

Death shouted back: “Then I have won the victory! Jesus! He who was with God in the beginning! He has entered the place of death! He has gone there to rescue, but He has failed!

“Let Hades rise and see my triumph. You angelic hosts, look at Jesus struggling in my right hand! You have sung throughout heaven that He would conquer death! Now look at Him as I hold Him with my might. Single-handed I grasp this God-Man
5
and leap with Him among the tombs. Aha! Do you sing His victory? Sing His defeat instead! I hold the conqueror! Move back, you heavens, before I come up and shake the eternal throne and make the heavenly worlds a cemetery for the dead.”

With a wild exultant glare, he met the Savior’s face. “How useless it was for You to attempt this. Haven’t I slain unnumbered tens of thousands? Do You think that You can escape? No, Jesus, You God-Man, I sacrifice You, my last enemy.”

Behind this I saw the triumphant Apollyon again. He was leading the hosts of evil spirits who were waving black banners. Emblazoned on the banners were two figures: Apollyon, the embodiment of evil, and Death, the ruthless destroyer. They were depicted embracing each other above the image of the cross and the bleeding sacrifice.

There was raucous shouting, blasphemies, and wild demoniacal laughter. The evil sounds washed back and forth like waves of thick black waters, and their fiendish delight burst out like a blast from a compressed sea of madness. As Death stood there boasting, the evil spirits milled around him shouting in triumph, “Ah-ha! Ah-ha!”

The children watching this asked their guardians, “Will they win? Will Jesus die?”

An angel answered, “If Jesus dies, the heavens will end. He holds the universe in His right hand.”

From a distance, Apollyon interrupted, “But in this decisive hour He has failed! Start singing your funeral dirge, all of you, for look! ‘Jesus! The Son of God’ they boast! Now at last He has been subdued. Death is victorious!”

“S
TRIKE YOUR DEATH SONG YOU
CONGREGATED MILLIONS
!
FOR, LO
! J
ESUS
THE BOASTED
S
ON OF
G
OD IS AT LAST
SUBDUED
. D
EATH PREVAILETH
!”

But Jesus, with every eye fixed on Him, rejoined, “No man can take My life from Me. I have chosen to lay it down of My own free will. You, Death, have used men as your agents of slaughter and execution, but they have no power over Me except what the Father has allowed them.
6
Look out! I am ready to burst through the portals of death to bind you, you destroyer, and rescue My people from your power. It is not revenge that I seek. I am coming to open the tomb and set the captives free.”

Shaking Himself free from Death’s grasp, He rose up to stand face-toface with His ancient foe.

“I came down from heaven as a man. Because of this I have gained access to your dominion.
7
Now I can destroy your power! You are conquered! The law of life will bind you and set boundaries to your rule. And I tell you, that day will come when death and hell will be thrown into the bottomless pit,
8
and never again will they afflict My people.”

Having said this, He took hold of Death and tied him up with a chain of light.

Then, looking up to Justice, who had watched all this from the cloud, He said, “Look! The Spirit of Life has defeated Death!”

Turning to the roaring tempest of disintegrating nature that was breaking up into storms around Him, He said, “You raging forces of death! Stop! Release your grip, you prince of terrors! I have come to rescue the fallen world before it plunges into the bottomless abyss.”

As He stood in the mighty cataract of collapsing nature, He lifted His right hand to grasp the world, which had been drawn close to the abyss. It hovered over the brink, together with its swarming and lost millions of inhabitants, ready to plunge over the edge and into the surging billows that drove madly down into the gulf of death.

But He held it fast against every raging force, shouting to the tempest, “Stop, you great storm! Stop! In time past you have had invincible power to bring fear to the world, but now I command you to be still! Earth, return to your allotted domain. The day of your salvation has dawned.”

“Y
E MIGHTY WINDS OF HEAVEN, FAN
INTO LIFE THE EXPIRING ORB
.”