Behind the Veil

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:17-20 ESV). Yesterday I mentioned Easter in the devotional. I naturally began to think of the seeming finality of death. When we lose a loved one, we want the whole world to stop and take notice. The world, however, keeps rushing on and darkness can engulf our soul. It is natural to feel lost and alone. I read the story of a Christian man who lost his eighteen-year-old son. It was a tragic death and the father felt his soul engulfed in darkness. Easter came and he dreaded the day. He arose early, unable to sleep. He sat alone in the darkness of his home. He felt the darkness of his son’s death mocking his soul on a day when in the past he had always felt such hope. Then he saw the sun rise. As he watched it rise and bring light to another day, he heard the Hallelujah Chorus being sung over the radio. At that moment he felt God speaking to him, saying, “As the sun rises, my Son rose and so will yours.”

When we were in Philadelphia not long ago, Mary and I visited the gravesite of Benjamin Franklin at Christ Church. It is relatively unassuming. It is a small corner of the church property with some of the oldest graves maintained in the plot. Franklin’s is one of those sites. As you can see from the photo, it is not an ostentatious display at all. Covering the site is a flat stone with simple engraving on it. There is just outside the gates a plaque commemorating Franklin’s death. It has inscribed on it the epitaph he wrote for himself just his death: “THE BODY of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN – Printer - like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding lies here, food for worms; yet the work itself shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more, in a new, and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by the AUTHOR” Like the man in the story, he must have realized there will be no darkness in heaven, only light. There will be no death, only life, because Jesus is risen indeed! He has gone behind the curtain of death and is merely waiting to take us there as well. The grief of death hurts; however, it is not final!