There is to come a time when those who are in the New Jerusalem, dwelling with the Lord, have this promise: “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.” NC Rev. 8:8. That will be then. But this is now. And implicit in this prophetic foretelling is that during our lives here there are tears in our eyes. There is death, relentlessly stalking us all. And we will face sorrow and crying. The promise of the ‘silver lining’ forces us to recognize the ‘cloud’ we must confront.
When death claims a close one we get sober about life, at least for a little while. But we return to life and forget that its claim on distant friends, and then closer friends, and then older family members, and then intimate friends and close family members all remind us, sometimes shock us, into recognizing that death will claim us all. It came this week to take another loved one from me.
Because the wages of sin is death (NC Romans 1:28), we all deserve to die. We are not spotless before God. He cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance (T&C 54:5). We have been put into a place where we need to be rescued. The Savior achieved that needed rescue when He offered Himself as a ransom for us. “And so we see that all mankind had fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice — indeed, God’s justice — which forever relegated them to be cut off from His presence. Now the plan of mercy couldn’t be brought about unless an atonement were made. Therefore God Himself will atone for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to meet the demands of justice, so that God can be a perfectly just God, and a merciful God as well.” CoC Alma 19:14-15.
We celebrate our rescue today. He is risen! He is triumphant! “[T]he Lord was triumphant, exultant, overjoyed at His return from the grave! … I was shown the scene and do not have words to adequately communicate how complete the feelings of joy and gratitude were which were felt by our Lord that morning. As dark and terrible were the sufferings through which He passed, the magnitude of which is impossible for man to put into words, these feelings of triumph were, on the other hand, of equal magnitude in their joy and gratitude. I do not think it possible for a mortal to feel a fullness of either. And, having felt some of what He shares with His witnesses, I know words are inadequate to capture His feelings on the morning of His resurrection. He had the deep satisfaction of having accomplished the most difficult assignment given by the Father, knowing it was a benefit to all of His Father’s children, and it had been done perfectly.” T&C 161:29. This moment of His great victory is what He intends to share with all His followers who repent, are baptized and obey His commandments. Those who will inhabit the New Jerusalem have this same victory ahead for them. May we all take the rescue He offers us seriously, and choose to part with our own sins and follow Him.
Easter is the yearly reminder that we are offered the opportunity to join fully in the joy of our Lord.