In His revelation to John, Jesus encourages his faint-hearted friend and follower to “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.” (Rev. 1:17-18). John, rightly so, was overwhelmed by the Holy Presence. Afraid, I am sure, for like Isaiah and we, he knew his own unholiness was exposed in the powerful light “like the sun shining in full strength” (1:16). Yet, Jesus says not to worry, for His life was taken and then taken back. He is the one who is judge and gatekeeper, and He loves us.
Today Christians around the world remember this love for us in ultimate action. Love in a manner that is truly overwhelming and exposing. Today we remember that Jesus died because God so loved the world. May these words from Malcolm Guite allow us to remember and respond to God’s love for us on the cross.
The dark nails pierce him and the sky turns black,
We watch him as he labours to draw breath.
He takes our breath away to give it back,
Return it to its birth through his slow death.
We hear him struggle, breathing through the pain,
Who once breathed out his spirit on the deep,
Who formed us into consciousness from sleep.
His Spirit and his life he breathes in all,
Mantles* his world in his one atmosphere,
And now he comes to breathe beneath the pall**
Of our pollutions, draw our injured air
To cleanse it and renew. His final breath
Breathes and bears us through the gates of death.
*Envelops, as does a cloak.
**A cloth spread over a coffin or tomb.