Eater Vigil- The Gospel of Nicodemus
Sometimes our Christian ancestors would do theology by telling a story. C.S. Lewis did this through his book “The Screwtape Letters”. Tonight, I would like to share one of those stories with you tonight. Its present form dates back to the 300’s or 400’s, but parts of it are probably older. It is often called the “Gospel of Nicodemus”.
If you want a contemporary English version you can find a pretty good one for sale here, which is the one I drew this from.
I want to share a part of this document, but I’ve edited a lot to make it shorter. The part of the document I’m going to read is about Jesus after he is killed on the cross and descends into Sheol, the place of the dead. The is where the prophet Samuel is when King Saul and the Witch of Endor summon him back from the dead to seek his advice. ... We meet the the Devil after he has conspired to have Jesus crucified to stop him from doing good on earth.
(Chapter XV) Satan, the prince and captain of death, said to the prince of Sheol, “Prepare to receive Jesus of Nazareth, who boasted that he was the Son of God, and yet was a man afraid of death saying, ‘My soul is sorrowful even to death.’ He also did much damage to me and the demons; for those whom I made blind and lame and those whom I tormented with many demons he cured with his word. Even those I brought, dead, to you, he took back by force.”
To this the prince of Sheol replied to Satan, “Who is this that is so powerful a prince and yet a man who is afraid of death? For all the kings of the earth are subject to my power, having first been subjected to your power. If he is so powerful a man, I submit that he must be of a divine nature and therefore no man could resist his power. When he said he was afraid of death, he must have done so to trick you and you will regret it for ages to come.”
Then Satan replied, “Why do you doubt and are afraid to receive this Jesus of Nazareth who is both your adversary and mine? I tempted him and stirred up [the people] with zeal and anger against him. I sharpened the spear for his suffering; I prepared the cross to crucify him, and the nails to pierce through his hands and feet; and now that his death is near at hand, I will bring him here, subject to both you and me.”
Then the prince of Sheol answered and said, “As you just said, by force, he took away the dead from me. … Who then is this Jesus of Nazareth that by his word has taken away the dead from me, without even prayer to God? Perhaps it is the same who took Lazarus away from me, after he had been dead for four days and did stink and was rotten, whom I had possession as a dead person; yet he brought him to life again by his power.”
Satan answering, replied to the prince of Sheol, “It is the very same person, Jesus of Nazareth.”
When the prince of Sheol heard this, he said, “I adjure you by the powers which belong to you and me, do not bring him to me. For when I heard the power of his word, I and all of my demons trembled for fear. We were unable to detain Lazarus, and the earth (where the dead body of Lazarus was lodged) then turned him out alive. And I know now that he is Almighty God who could perform such things, who is the Savior of mankind. Therefore, do not bring this person here, for he will set free all those whom I hold in prison, bound with shackles of their sins, and he will take them to everlasting life.”
(Chapter XVI) And while Satan and the prince of Sheol were having this discussion, all of a sudden there was a voice as of thunder and rushing winds, saying, “Lift up your gates, O you princes; and be you lifted up, O Everlasting Gates, and the King of Glory shall come in!” [Psalm 24:7-10]
And when the prince of Sheol heard this, he said to Satan, “Get out of my dwelling and leave here. If you are truly a powerful warrior, then go and fight with this King of Glory. I have nothing to do with this, it is not my fight but yours.” And he cast him out of his dwelling.
The prince then said to his demons, “Shut the brass gates of cruelty and make them fast with iron bars, and fight courageously or we will be taken captive.”
But when all of the company of the saints (who were imprisoned in Sheol) heard this, they shouted aloud with anger to the prince of Sheol, “Open your gates that the King of Glory may come in!” … Many of the saintly prophets began to recount their prophesies regarding the defeat of death. Hosea spoke, “Didn’t I say, O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” [Hos 13:14] … When all the saints heard these things spoken by the prophets, they said to the prince of Sheol, “Open your gates and remove your bars! Now you will be bound and have no power!”
Then there was a loud voice, like the sound of thunder saying, “Lift up your gates, O princes; and be lifted up, you gates of Sheol, and the King the Glory will enter in.”
Then Jesus entered, and he shone light into those places which had always been in darkness. He broke asunder the shackles which (previously) could not be broken; and with his invincible power He visited those who sat in the deep darkness of iniquity and in the shadow of death.
(Chapter XVII) Wicked Death and the cruel demons each in their own kingdoms, hearing these things and seeing the brightness of the light, were all seized with fear. And the Messiah himself appeared in their habitations and they cried out, “We are bound by you! Who are you that you have no sign of corruption? Who are you, so powerful and yet so weak, so great and yet so humble, so average and yet a soldier of the first rank? How are you this King of Glory, who was dead and is now alive, though slain upon the cross, laid dead in the grave, and yet have come down to us alive? Who are you, that you now move free and unhindered among the dead and terrorize our legions? Who are you, who releases the captives that were held in chains by sin and bring them into their original liberty? Who are you, who spreads such a glorious and divine light over those who were made blind by the darkness of sin?”
Then the King of Glory trampling upon death, seized the prince of Sheol, deprived him of all his power, and took our earthly father Adam with him to his glory.
(Chapter XVIII) Then the prince of Sheol took Satan and with great indignation said to him, “O you prince of destruction, it is your fault that I, have been defeated and banished. I am the ridicule of God’s angels and loathed by all righteous persons! What were you thinking? Why did you do this? You crucified the King of Glory and promised us that by destroying him we would gain the advantage. But we were ignorant fools not knowing what your designs would cause. For behold, now Jesus of Nazareth, with the brightness of his glorious divinity, puts all the terrible powers of darkness and death to flight. He has broken down our prisons from top to bottom, dismissed all the captives, released all who were bound; and all who formerly groaned under the weight of their torments now insult us, and we are likely to be defeated by their prayers. Our unclean demons are subdued. Never before could the dead be insolent to us, nor as prisoners were they ever joyful. O Satan, prince of the wicked, father of the demons, why did you attempt such an exploit since we already had our prisoners captive, without any hopes of salvation or life? But now there isn’t even one left to groan, nor is there even the slightest sign of a tear on their faces. O prince Satan, all your advantages which you acquired by the forbidden tree, and the loss of Paradise, you have now lost by the wood of the cross. Your gain was all lost by crucifying Jesus, the Messiah and King of Glory. You have acted against your interests, as well as mine, and you will soon understand this with the coming torments and infinite punishments you are about to suffer. Why did you set out to crucify him without either reason or justice and bring him down to our regions, an innocent and righteous man? By this you have lost all the sinners!”
While the prince of Sheol, was speaking to Satan, the King of Glory said to the prince of Sheol, “Satan shall now be subject to your dominion forever, in the place of Adam and his righteous children who are mine.”
(Chapter XIX) Then Jesus stretched out his hand and said, “Come to me all you my saints, who were created in my image, who were condemned by the tree of forbidden fruit, and by the devil, and death. Live now by the wood of my cross; … the devil, the prince of this world, is overcome and death is conquered.”
Then all the saints were joined together under the hand of the Most High God; and Jesus took Adam’s hand and said to him, “Peace be to you and to all your children, who are mine.”
The saints prostrated at the feet of Jesus and said with one voice, “Thou art come, O Redeemer of the world, and have accomplished all things which you did foretell by the law and your holy prophets. You have redeemed the living by the cross and have come down to us, that by death on the cross you might deliver us from Sheol. O Lord, you have placed the sign of your redemption, your cross on the earth! You have even set the sign of the victory of your cross in Sheol, that death may no longer have dominion.”
Then the Lord stretched out his hand, made the sign of the cross upon Adam and upon all the saints. Taking hold of Adam by his right hand, He ascended from Sheol and all the saints of God followed him.
(Chapter XX) Then the Lord held Adam by the hand and delivered him to Michael the archangel and he led them into Paradise filled with mercy and glory.
I’ll end with the final words of St. John Chrysostom’s Easter sermon from the year 400AD:
“Christ is Risen, and you, O Death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!”
The Easter sermon of John Chrysostom (circa 400 AD)
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