He Holds the Keys of Death
On an annual visit to the Tabernacle, Hannah had prayed to God for a son. She made a promise that if God granted her a son, she would give him back to God, to serve God an entire lifetime (1 Samuel 1:11). Now she had returned to keep her promise. She brought her longed-for son, Samuel, to the Tabernacle to leave him there under the care of Eli.
But before she left, she offered a prayer of praise. Her psalm doesn't concentrate on her sorrow at leaving her son behind, on her suffering, or even on her blessings. Instead, it focused on her God. Out of her suffering and exaltation, she came to see God more clearly, and as a result she praised him for who he is and what he does. Her psalm speaks of God as holy, faithful, omniscient, gracious, powerful, sovereign, and as the great reverser of circumstances. Celebrating God's sovereign favor in her life and in the world, Hannah sang, "The Lord gives both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up" (1 Samuel 2:6).
Here Hannah expressed a profound truth about the power and person of God-that he is in control of life and death. And we discover later, when Jesus appears to John on the island of Patmos, that God has put this control into the hands of his Son. Appearing in his glorified humanity, radiant and powerful, Jesus said to John, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look-I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave" (Revelation 1:17-18).
Calling himself "the First and the Last," Jesus is saying, "Everything started with me, and everything will end with me. You find your starting point and your ending place completely in me."
What does it mean that Jesus holds "the keys of death and the grave"? The person who holds the keys opens, closes, and controls access. Jesus is saying that he is in charge of life and death, and of the place we go when we die. No one goes there unless and until Jesus opens that door. He holds the keys because he died and went there himself and emerged with the keys in his hand. Because Jesus holds the keys, we can be confident that he will open the door at just the right time, waiting to meet us on the other side.
~ Living One who holds the keys of death and the grave, I hear you telling me not to be afraid. And because it is you who holds the keys to death, I know that I need not fear. My life and my death are under your loving control.
