I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. An innocent man mounts the steps to the guillotine. He hasn’t led the best of lives. He has seen in himself nothing worthy of honor. But he has exchanged places in prison with the young husband of the woman he loves. He had promised to do anything to protect her and hers. He has saved the man at the cost of his own life. Some of you may recognize the scene from Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”. As Sydney Carton goes to meet his death the words of Jesus echo in his mind, what Jesus said to Martha, grieving over the death of her brother Lazarus. I am the resurrection and the life. When my parents died, I wasn’t overcome with grief. That came later. I thought about the promise of Jesus to Mary and Martha. My parents, even though they should die, would live. It wasn’t just that Jesus would give them life, but that Jesus was life. It wasn’t just that Jesus would raise them up as he raised Lazarus, only to die once more, but that Jesus was the Resurrection. If we are in Jesus, we are in the Resurrection and the Life. It’s what Sydney Carton learned at last, and what all Christians, even in the deepest sorrow, must remember.
Thanks to Anthony Esolen of Magnificat
