“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
It’s Easter Saturday as I write, the time of waiting. The suffering and loss of Good Friday has been experienced, and now we wait for Jesus’ glorious raising. But this is not just a quiet time of expectation, it is a dynamic time. Jesus didn’t just lie motionless in the tomb. While his body lay in the grip of death, his soul was on the move. He went down to the depths of “Sheol,” the land of the dead, and brought the light of God into it. Where there was darkness and separation, he brought his amazing redemptive love and light. He shone like the Sun. And he broke apart the chains of death, the shackles of sin.
He took on our humanity to the fullest and looked at death face to face, but instead of being overcome by it, his power broke death’s grip. As the lovely words of the song “In Christ Alone,” state: “no guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me.” Sin no longer has a hold on us. Because Jesus descended to the dead, death “shall be no more.” And wiped away are the tears and the fears. Things will never be the same. Jesus time on earth wasn’t just about his death and resurrection. He redeemed us by his sacrifice on the cross, reconciling us to the Father, but there was more; he also saved us from death and sin. Death and sin are the two things separate us from God, but they are no longer part of the equation because, through Jesus courage and trust in the Father, he allowed himself to be wrenched from this world, and flung into the other. He fought back against the powers of darkness, all for the love of us. This is the freedom that was promised.
Tell Out My Soul 
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