“我曾死过…”

“‘（我）又是那存活的；我曾死过，现在又活了，直活到永永远远，并且拿着死亡和阴间的钥匙。’” - 启 1:18

对神、对我们、和对所有受造之物，死亡是最可怕的敌人，当死亡临到我们时，少有事情能比得上我们受到的痛苦和哀伤，没有人能逃避这个敌人的，就连我们的主耶稣，也为我们的缘故舍了自己的生命（约翰福音 10:14-18）。

在这里，耶稣向约翰表明祂是谁，祂回顾祂在耶路撒冷为我们被钉死时所经历的事件（约翰福音 19-20）。耶稣说：“我曾死过”，祂是指着祂受苦、被钉、死亡、和被埋葬时的痛苦细节说的，耶稣明白死亡是什么，因为祂亲身经历过。（参看马太、马可、路加、和约翰福音最后几章的记载。）

然而，耶稣要我们视死亡为一个已被祂打败的敌人。“我曾死过”，耶稣是以过去式说这句话；祂曾死过，但现在看看祂吧！祂说：“（我）是那存活的，…现在又活了，直活到永永远远！”

耶稣胜过死亡和忧伤，祂让我们看到这幅祂永远胜利的图画。死亡不能操纵我们的命运，耶稣才是我们的主宰！祂是唯一拿着开启死亡之门的钥匙的主。这位已升天的耶稣，也曾在朋友坟前说过：“复活在我，生命也在我！信我的人，虽然死了，也必复活”（约翰福音 11:25）。

我们的好牧人耶稣，感谢你与我们同行、领我们走过死亡的幽谷，你又说：“复活在我，生命也在我，”我们感谢你！阿们。

18又是那存活的；我曾死过，现在又活了，直活到永永远远，并且拿着死亡和阴间的钥匙。

“I Was Dead… ”

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.“ - Revelation 1:18

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Death is a terrible enemy to God, to us, and to the entire creation. There is little that matches the misery and grief we receive when death comes our way. None of us escapes this enemy—and for our sake, even the Lord Jesus laid down his life (John 10:14-18).

In the way he identified himself to John here, Jesus recalled the events he experienced in Jerusalem at his crucifixion for our sake (John 19-20). “I was dead,” Jesus said, referring to the painful details of his suffering, crucifixion, death, and burial. Jesus knows death firsthand. (See the closing chapters of the Gospel books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.)

But Jesus wants us to see death as an enemy he has defeated. “I was dead,” Jesus says in the past tense. He was dead, but now look at him! He says, “I am the Living One... look, I am alive for ever and ever!”

Triumphant over death and grief, Jesus gives us this picture of his forever victory. Death does not have the last word with us. Jesus does! He alone holds the keys to unlock death’s door. The ascended Jesus is the same one who said at the grave of his friend: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25).

Prayer

Jesus, our good shepherd, thank you for walking with us and leading the way through death’s dark valley. Thank you for being “the resurrection and the life”! Amen.