2013-03-30              John W       John W's previous articles

                      Holy Saturday reflection

 

Q 01:  What place closed down some time after 3pm on Good Friday?  A:  "the bosom of Abraham" = the place where all the good people who died before Jesus' death ...were waiting for the gates of  heaven to open = the place where Abraham, Moses, Elijah, St Joseph, John the Baptist,  etc were counting down the days before they moved house to heaven.
c.f.  Cat 01   &  Cat 02 (both of which unfortunately use words "descended into hell"; better to use "descended to the dead")
c.f. Cat 03    &  Cat 04
c.f. Did John the Baptist go straight to heaven when he died?  (scroll down to comment by Kev123)

Q 02: When did the gates of heaven open....after Jesus' death or after his resurrection?
A:  I'm not sure.  Put "gates of heaven opened by Jesus" into Google and you'll see some people saying the gates were opened by his death, others saying they were opened by his  resurrection.  Notice how Cat 01, Cat 02, Cat 03, Cat 04 are not clear about this.
Cat 03 seems to say his death.   Cat 04 says his resurrection.  It's as if the church is having an ''each-way bet"

Best understanding:  what matters is not the timing of the opening gates, but the fact that they re-opened.  Using the human concept of time to talk about heavenly realities has many limitations....a bit like asking a tiny child to use Windows 2011.   So we humbly pray 
"Lord Jesus, by your Cross and Resurrection   you have set us free. You are the Saviour of the world"