Just as different nations have different holidays and memorial days, different families have seasons that are special to us. For our family, the end of May has become one of those times.
It began when my father-in-law, Luis Tolosa, passed away one May 27 at the age of 64. A few years went by, then it was Carolina’s grandmother, who passed away on May 26. Another aunt died May 29 two years ago, then last year it was my dad, who left us on May 25. Four death anniversaries in five days; it’s a time to remember those who have gone on.
I hate death. I worship the God who is life, and death is his natural enemy, the final enemy to be conquered. (1 Cor 15:26) In a wonderful twist of irony, Revelation pictures death itself being thrown into the fiery lake that is itself known as the second death. (Revelation 20:14)
Jesus came to free mankind from the fear of death, or at least from slavery to that fear. (Hebrews 2:15) Our innate survival instinct will always leave us with some fear, but we need not live as slaves to that fear. We know someone who has been there and back, and he has promised that we can overcome death. In Revelation 1, Jesus says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17–18)
I love that last phrase. “I have the keys of Death and Hades.” As I wrote in Letters from the Lamb about the letter to the church in Philadelphia:
In the case of Jesus, we need to remember that each of the letters refers to chapter 1 of Revelation. In the vision that John had of Jesus, Jesus had keys in his hand, the keys to death and Hades. It seems likely that Jesus is referring to the same keys here; the reference to the key of David is made to emphasize the permanence of Jesus’ actions regarding death and Hades. Now that he has opened that door, no one can shut it again, until Jesus himself decides to do so. Christians can face death without fear, for their Lord holds the key to let them out of the realm of death. Their stay in Hades will be but a temporary one, for they know the One who holds the key. When he opens the door, no one can shut it again. When Christ spoke with Peter about having the keys of the kingdom, he also spoke about the gates of Hades, saying that they would never be able to prevail against his church. Jesus opens the door to the place where the dead are, and once he has opened it, no one can shut it.
I hate death, but I also face it with confidence. I know he who has gone before and trust in his power to keep his promises.
Amen. Something about entering my fifties has caused me to be ever more aware of mortality. Death cannot hold the resurrection life. We as believers do have a hope in resurrection and a confidence in the One who has conquered death that we will live with Him.
I’ve been keenly aware of the transient nature of life and of my own mortality since I was a child. I believe that was one of three major factors (never mind the other two for now) that contributed to my search for answers and ultimate turn to Christ. I had older relatives, never knew my grandfathers because one died before I was born and the other shortly thereafter, and — this is key — my mother took me around to the family graves before Memorial Day every year. When those people were my age (a child, or even now) it surely must have seemed to them that they had all the time in the world.
I hate death too. Yet as one who buried a father, son, and younger brother in less than a five year span, my faith has been forged through the struggle of death’s sting. That is why I groan for the redemption we hope in (cf. Rom 8:23-24), that God gives to us in Christ.
This is very good, Tim. Thanks. Last Memorial Day (2011), I saw the following inscription on a monument at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California: “EARTH HAS NO SORROWS THAT HEAVEN CANNOT HEAL.”