God in a grave?!

He died a criminal's death, hanging on a creep's cross from 9-12 noon. On his death, darkness knifed the noonday sky as if to celebrate the death of Christ; thunder clapped in anticlimax as if baffled by the paradox of Jesus now dead. I'm overtaken here at 6 pm that at this time years before-Good Friday-Christ was either already buried or about to be buried. The Son of God was God enough to endure death for a few days. Jesus, very God, willingly confined Himself to the grave, dismissing His Spirit. The silence in heaven must have been deafening, the forgetful panic among his close ones-frightening, the riot in hell none short of troubling. Jesus' dare to endure a sinner's death was a living statement of total confidence that His Father had His back. Not even the grip of the grave could usurp His untethered rule over death's sting-Hell, itself could not hold Him. He would drink the cup of God's fury so that we could drink the living water He died to secure us. His drink was judgment: ours-forgiveness, redemption, and restoration. If Jesus were willing to know the TKO of death; we need ask ourselves how much are we willing to take. His burial stood in stark contrast to the victory He donned in death. His death was the ultimate Judo victory over Satan and His minions, for in dying He brought life. Yet after such a stellar conquest, He'd be wrapped thick and thrown in a hollow tomb? Was it all worth it? Was this the way of the King? Yes, even Jesus-God-would know life in its disquieting diversity-flying high He was laid low, He gave life only to lose His own. And the lesson is telling though disturbing. We must be willing to embrace life in its cheers and strain, its victory and pain. Life's diversity is key to our attaining to the individuals God birthed us to be. Our mountaintops are meant to sustain us through life's valleys; our lows somehow help us better enjoy life's highs. God was sealed off-dead in a grave? Yes, our lives will be interwoven with threads dark and bright, alike; but we must never lose our confidence of Who we are. As children of the King, we have the quiet trust that Sunday's always coming. Satan's swag will soon be replaced by the hangover Sunday tends to bring Him.