What Goes Down, Must Come Up

Luke 24:13-27

What goes up, must come down. Isaac Newton showed us that the apex of an apple’s flight isn’t the end, but only the apex. If it goes up, it must come down. And that’s it…at least as far as the world understands. When Jesus went down into the grave and everyone realized they weren’t getting the conquering king they expected, confusion/frustration/sorrow began to set in. We see this in Luke 24; in a conversation between two men trying to figure out their next steps after Jesus’ death.

Verse 21 showed us they had lost all hope, as they saw Jesus as the rescuer; and the rescuer was dead. With death as the end of the story (must come down, remember?), that’s it, right? No hope? But is God a God of resignation, or of hope and fulfillment? It took this strange traveler to help them understand that death was actually not the end of the story – there was still more to come. To illustrate that, let’s briefly explore one statement God made at the very beginning of the story.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:15

Death Only Looks Like the End

If you’ve watched any of the recent Marvel superhero movies and got up to leave when the credits rolled, you were sorely mistaken as to the actual ending of the movie. Every single one of those movies has at least one end credit scene. What looks like the end is not always the end.

Thus, while many might look at a snake bite as the end, that is not the case. God foreshadowed a much more direct and gruesome end for the serpent – the crushing of its head. While the outcome of a snake bite has many variables and possible endings, the crushing of a head allows for only one ending – death…over evil.

The cross on Friday was the snake bite; many assumed that was the final blow and hope began to fail. Yet Sunday proved it not to be the end, but when Jesus got UP, sin was defeated, the head crushed, and Life is shown to be the true end of the story – not death. In fact, what goes down, must come up. The Book of Hebrews confirms this…

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…”

Hebrews 9:27

The cross was not defeat; it was the battle. The resurrection we celebrate on Easter Sunday is the victory – over sin, over death, and over evil. Because of Easter we get LIFE – to live forever in the presence of God and ultimately cured of our broken natures. This is a life that we can take part in today if we place our trust in Jesus to make us right with God.

How Does One Accept God’s Free Gift of Salvation?

1. Believe that what happened on the cross and in the tomb actually happened, as a literal part of human history.
2. Trust that His sacrifice is enough to make you right with God, thus granting you forgiveness and allowing you into His family.
3. Start by introducing yourself to Jesus through prayer and begin an ongoing relationship with Him by accepting your faults and asking for His help.

If you’ve never done that, I encourage you to do that now and reach out to us via the contact page. If you have begun a relationship with Jesus, then choose every day to live in the victory of Sunday instead of defeat. Life is the end of the story, not death; in other words, what goes down, must come up.