Tradition holds that today, Holy Saturday, the Son of Man fights and is victorious against the Fallen Angels, which leads to the opening of the Gates of the Kingdom of God, now known as the Gates of Heaven. Today, in 2013, it seems a bit unimportant that Christ opens the Gates, because, well, they're already open. Yes, that is true, but back then, around 33 A.D., most believed the Afterlife was simply a continuation of life on earth, one place where nothing happens, simply a congregation of souls at peace. It did not matter what you did in this world, for you ended up in 'Sheol', Hebrew for 'place of the dead'.
The Importance of Christ's entrance into Sheol is that He, as the Son of Man, gives the Good News to All, and that includes everyone who has passed before us, those living now, and the people to come. In His life on Earth, He preached to those living, and passed His authority to teach, govern, and sanctify to the Apostles. (Matthew 26) This is now referred to as the "Great Commission." The Church obeyed Christ, and has been preaching, teaching, and sanctifying the same beliefs and morals that a humble carpenter from a small town in Northern Israel taught more than two thousand years ago. Now that the Church is preaching the word to the living, the only people left to preach, teach and sanctify were those who had not heard His word yet: The Dead. Therefore, He enters the place of the Dead, preaches the Good News there, and brings with Him the righteous who truly deserve to be in the Kingdom of God. This is the final step to be able to fulfill God's plan of Salvation promised to Adam and Eve in the Protoevangelium. (Genesis 3:15)
I know that now there are multiple questions that come up. Why does God want to save us in the first place?
Was it necessary to suffer and die a slow and painful death, only to achieve the opportunity to regain lowly and mostly disobedient things that He Himself created? These questions I will answer, but if you have any other questions, please email me at og2bemfa@gmail.com, and I will post the answers on here to the best of my ability.
For the first question: Why does God want to save us in the first place?
Well, to answer this question, we must go back to the question of "What makes applicable for Salvation?" If we need Salvation, someone must have done something wrong. Yes, most of us have done something wrong, therefore, who was technically the first sinner? To know the First Sinner, we must know the First Human. According to the Creation stories, that title goes to Adam and Eve of Genesis Chapters 1-3. Alright, what did they do wrong? According to the story, Eve was tempted by a talking snake, analogous to the Fallen Angel Satan, to eat an apple, but not just any apple, it was an apple of a specific tree, planted in the center of their home, the fabled Garden of Eden in the Kingdom of God. The tree, Tree of the Knowledge between Good and Evil, was the only tree in the whole Garden that both inhabitants were prohibited to eat from. Regardless of the rule, Eve, the story furthers, fell to the temptation and ate of the forbidden fruit, which she also passed onto Adam. Once this happens, the whole world changes forever. This action marks the beginning of sin in the world. This disobedience to God lead to the exile of Adam and Eve of the Kingdom and the Garden was forever closed, and guarded by Angels. The interesting thing is that while God exiles the First Humans, he also gives them a promise: that one of their descendants would save them, "I will put enmity between you [Satan, the snake] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel" (Genesis 3:15). This verse from the Bible is also referred to as the Protoevangelium, meaning First Gospel, because it is the first time in the Bible that God promises Salvation and reunion with Him. This makes us applicable for Salvation, and God has already showed a promise to save us from Satan, his temptations which lead us to Sin.
On the second question: Was it necessary to die a slow and painful death, only to achieve the opportunity to regain lowly and mostly disobedient things that He Himself created?
My answer in short: Yes. But let me explain why.
As we established earlier, God loves us, to the point where even if we turn our back to Him, He still wants us close. The only type of love that can relate to His love for us is Mother's to a Child. God is willing to do anything, literally anything to get us back. The story and the Historical proof of God's plan is called Salvation History, and the most famous written accounts of how He comes about achieving this plan is called The Bible.
Throughout this Salvation History, we see great leaders of men: Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Daniel, Isaiah, and many other Prophets and Men who accepted God's mission for them. All leading a specific group of people out of problems, but that group of people just seems to be clumsy enough to get into other problems. These people are the Hebrew Nation, later called Israelites, now known as Jews. Their story, and their laws make up the Old Testament. During this time, God gives His people clues, ideas of what the 'Messiah' or Savior could be. This is when the story of God's love reaches a climax. The birth of the Christ, Jesus comes in. By this time, there had been many prophecies about the Messiah: his lineage should be from the great King David: Joseph, his father was a descendant of David, he was to be born in David's City: Bethlehem and to be born from a virgin Mother: Mary; among other clues and descriptions that can be found in the Old Testament. Interestingly enough, Jesus fits all of the descriptions.
On another side note: How can a human being be born from a Virgin mother? This is not physically possible, but we Catholics believe that for God nothing is impossible. Therefore, Mary's womb could be filled with the Messiah and the Incarnation could take place. For further information, investigate Mariology.
Incarnation: The mystery and belief that Jesus is God Incarnate, both Human and Divine. Christology goes deeper, but for a short explanation, for God's plan to work, the sacrifice necessary would have to be great and be made by God Himself, but also a Human Being. Only Jesus is able to fit that description, also.
Once Jesus begins His public ministry: preaching, living, and teaching God's Word to the people, He gains popularity. He performs miracles, teaches on the Kingdom of God and a lot more. The chronicles of His life, death, Resurrection, and the story of His twelve best friends-Apostles- is recorded in the New Testament.
After three hard years of preaching, he finally reaches Jerusalem. Remember my earlier posts on Holy Thursday and Friday. This is when they come in. Long story short, He is crucified on a cross, as if he was a vile criminal. Fortunately for us, He also left many proofs of His existence and His marvelous deeds. His famous words before dying, "It is finished." mark the end and completion of Salvation History and Our Salvation. The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, now headed by Pope Francis, continues His work.
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