"_And He was Buried_."
For a little time they lost Him. The grave opened her gloomy portals; they
laid Him down, and the gates were closed--for a little time. And yet He
was just as really there, as really alive for evermore, as really theirs
and ours, as really a victor--nay, a thousand times more so, than if He
had never bowed Himself under the yoke of Nature. He was gone on before,
just a little while, that was all.
Is not that the lesson of His burial for every one who sorrows for the
loss of loved ones called up higher? Are they not buried with Him? Are
they not gone on before? Are they not ours still? Are we not theirs as
really as ever? He passed through that brief path of darkness and death
out into the everlasting light of the Resurrection Glory. Do you think,
then, that He will leave them behind? The grave could not contain
_Him_. Do you think it has strength to hold _them_? You cannot
think of Him as lying long in the garden of Joseph of Arimathaea; why,
then, should you think of your dear ones as in the chilly clay of that
poor garden in which you laid them? No--no! they are alive--alive for
evermore; because He lives, they live also.
Yes! this was the meaning of that strange funeral of His--this was at
least one reason why they buried Him. It was that He might hold a flaming
torch of comfort at every burial of His people to the end of time. Sorrow
not, then, as those that have no hope. He is hope. Your lost ones,
perhaps, were strongly rooted in your affection, and your heart was torn
when they were plucked up. You cried aloud with the Prophet: "Woe is me,
for my hurt! my wound is grievous. But I said, Truly this is a grief, and
I must bear it; my tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken."
Ah, but remember He was buried also. He knows about the way. He was there.
He has them in His keeping. They are His, and yours still. You have no
more need to grieve over their burial than over His. They live, they love,
they grow, they rejoice. They are blessed for evermore.
And our dear dead will meet us again, if we are faithful, in those bodies
which our Lord has redeemed. That also is the witness of His burial and
resurrection. The corruptible shall put on incorruption. In the twinkling
of an eye shall it be done. And we shall see them in the body once more,
even as His disciples saw Him. They supposed at first that they saw a
spirit, but He said: No! "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!"
This blessed hope is our hope. Love is indeed stronger than death; many
waters, nay, the swellings of Jordan themselves, cannot quench it! Dear
ones, gone on before, we shall embrace you again; hand in hand--the very
same hands--we shall greet our King:--
Together we'll stand
When escaped to the shore,
With palms in our hands
We Will praise Him the more;
We'll range the sweet plains
On the banks of the river,
And sing of Salvation
For ever and ever.
Yes--we know and love you still, because we know and love our Lord.