Noise. Vibration. Pressure. Fireball. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield used these words to describe being launched into space. As the rocket raced toward the International Space Station, the weight of gravity increased and breathing became difficult. Just when he thought he would pass out, the rocket made a fiery breakthrough into weightlessness. Instead of lapsing into unconsciousness, he broke into laughter.
His description made me think of the days leading to my mothers death. The heaviness of life kept increasing until she no longer had the strength to breathe. She was then released from her pain and broke free into the weightlessness of heaven. I like to think of her laughing when she took her first breath in Jesus presence.
On the Friday we call good, something similar happened to Jesus. God placed on Him the weight of the entire worlds sinpast, present, and futureuntil He could no longer breathe. Then He said, Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit (Luke 23:46). After being suffocated by our sin, Jesus received back from God the life entrusted to Him and now lives where sin and death have no power. All who trust Christ will one day join Him, and I wonder if well look back at this life and laugh.
INSIGHT
: Paul uses metaphors such as earthen vessels, earthly house, and tent (2 Cor. 4:7; 5:1) to contrast the frailty and mortality of our earthly existence with the indestructibility, immortality, and glory of our resurrection bodies. When a believer dies, the body goes to the grave, becoming dust (Gen. 3:19; Job 34:15; Eccl. 3:20), but the spirit goes to be with Christ (Eccl. 12:7; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:2125). When Jesus Christ returns for His own (John 14:3), our body and spirit shall be raised together for a glorious eternity with God (5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:50-53; Phil. 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:1618).