gone directly to heaven to celebrate with His Father; yet, in His deep Love, the f irst place He wanted to go was the very depths of hell to personally deliver salvation to His first beloved son and daughter. This ancient homily describes Jesus entering hell with “His victorious weapon, the cross.” Then, grasping the hand of Adam for the first time since the garden, Jesus calls Adam to awake and arise from the dead — for God did not create man “to be held a prisoner in the underworld” but to spend eternal life with Him.
Jesus then goes on to speak a series of beautiful “for you” statements. For Adam, Jesus took the scourging upon His own back to free the load of sin that had been laid upon Adam’s back. For Adam, Jesus’ arms were outstretched on a tree, to redeem the moment Adam and Eve reached out for the tree and grasped the forbidden fruit, and so on.
It is an encounter of pure, utter, and unmerited redemption that expresses the detailed and stunning love our God has for His creation. But what is most profound is that when Jesus says, “For you,” not only is He speaking to Adam. He is also speaking to you and to me by name.
Having laid down His life for you, Jesus Christ, our Savior, goes to the ends of the earth — and even to the depths of hell — to seek you out in the very places of your life that are most broken. He comes to redeem you there, He grasps your hand, and He calls you to arise that He may lead you to the heavenly throne the Father has prepared for you from before the ages.
As Holy Week approaches, I encourage you to take some time to unpack this incredible reality. May we ask the Lord for the grace to understand more fully His epic Love for us, and may we find great hope in the final words of this ancient homily that also ring true in our own lives:
“The cherubim throne has been prepared ... The bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages.”
For you. +
+John P. Dolan
Bishop of Phoenix.