Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
Saturday.
Jesus is why we don’t grieve like everyone else. The apostle Paul admits that we will grieve. We should grieve. Grieving is a healthy process of dealing with loss. Not to grieve would simple push the pain down and cause problems deep in our heart that would leak out in the future.
Jesus died. He experienced death. He’s been there. That Saturday after His crucifixion was the Sabbath. It was the Jewish day of rest. And for the disciples a day of deep grieving (Luke 24:17).
We have to grieve, but we don’t have to grieve like the rest of humanity. Our grief is infused with hope. It’s infused with life. Because Jesus died and rose again, death has transitioned from a dead end to a blinking yellow light. Death used to be a “The End” slide at the end of a movie, but now it’s simply the Netflix countdown between episodes as we move from this life into the next.
This hope we have is because of Jesus and only because of Jesus. Death doesn’t have the final word over us because death didn’t have the final word over Him. And if we find ourselves in Him, we live the same victory He lived.
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Fire and Light 