Something that I missed during the COVID-19 pandemic was the choir at church. Music touches my soul in ways I cannot easily describe.
One favorite Easter hymn was written by Cecil Frances Alexander as a poem in the 1800s and was later set to music previously written by Joachim Neander in the 1600s.
It begins by declaring Jesus’s resurrection from the grave.
He is risen! He is risen!
Tell it out with joyful voice.
He has burst his three days’ prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice.
Death is conquered; man is free.
Christ has won the victory.
At a certain point in our mortal journey, we will lose someone dear to us. When this happens, what Jesus Christ did for us becomes very personal.
Christians have different theologies and beliefs, but most agree that Jesus Christ was crucified and three days later was resurrected, never to die again. He burst the prison of death, but not just for Himself. Resurrection is a gift for all of God’s children. Through Jesus Christ’s infinite atoning sacrifice, death is conquered.
Jesus wanted many to witness that He was a resurrected being; not just a spirit being. He said to his Apostles, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39). With a joyful voice, they wrote down what they saw for us to read today.
In my faith, we believe that there is a second witness of the resurrected Lord. After His resurrection, Jesus also visited the people on the American continent. This is recorded in another ancient scripture called “The Book of Mormon.” He showed these people the prints of the nails in His hands and feet, just as He did to His Apostles and disciples in Jerusalem so that there could be no question about who He was. Jesus is the Savior of all mankind; the God of Israel and the God of the whole earth. They also wrote down what they saw for us to read today.
I recently had a dream where I was riding in a car with my grandmother, who passed away back in 1997. We were with some other people and I was thinking that I needed to tell my grandmother how much I love her because I didn’t know when I would see her again. I was hoping for a moment alone where we could talk. However, I woke up before I could tell her. I have comfort knowing that I will indeed see my grandmother again, and it won’t be in a hospital bed like it was the last time I saw her alive.
Amulek taught, “The spirit and the body shall be reunited again to its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame. And we shall be brought to stand before God” (Alma 11:43).
The other victory that we celebrate is that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins. This means that if we repent, are baptized, and turn our lives over to God, our sins will be forgiven and God will remember them no more. We all fall short. A loving Heavenly Father gave us His only begotten Son so that we could return to live with Him again.
I don’t know when that glorious day of resurrection will happen for my grandmother, but I am certain that one day I will again see her face-to-face, and tell her how much I love her.
Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, meaning he saved and redeemed each of us from the everlasting grip of death and the effects of sin. It is only through Christ that we will rise from the grave and receive a remission of our sins. He is risen! Let the whole wide earth rejoice! Christ has won the victory.
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Issues of Faith is a rotating column by religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. Bishop Jason Bringhurst is the leader of the Mount Pleasant Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Port Angeles. His email is jasonbring@gmail.com.
