Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Today’s reflection is written by Jade Schwich.

He will swallow up death forever. —Isaiah 25:7

Jesus’ earthly ministry brought the Kingdom of God to us. Jesus showed us this Kingdom through the ways in which He healed and loved and forgave those with whom He interacted. And through His death and resurrection Jesus demonstrated God’s incredible love for us by dying on the cross for sins that were not His own, defeating death once and for all.

The Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated, it’s here already, but it’s not here in its fullness. It’s what followers of Jesus call the “already but not yet” reality.

This whole already-but-not-yet reality thing proves pretty difficult. Death doesn’t have the final word. We know that. But death still stings on this side of the resurrection of the dead. Loss still hurts and broken relationships aren’t pain-free. 

And yet…

And yet, in the darkest of times, God is with us. God is in the midst of our loss, our broken relationships, our grief. He knows your suffering and He knows mine and He’s not afraid to step into it with us and fight our battles, providing us with exactly what we need (whether we feel like it’s what we need or not). In fact, He loves us so much that He descended into death and rose again, swallowing up death forever.

May we allow God’s Kingdom to break through even in our darkest hours.

O death, where is your sting?