Lord Christ, Master of Death

"If, then, it is by the sign of the cross and by faith in Christ that death is trampled underfoot, it is clear that it is Christ Himself and none other Who is the Arch-victor over death and has robbed it of its power. Death used to be strong and terrible, but now, since the sojourn of the Saviour and the death and resurrection of His body, it is despised; and obviously it is by the very Christ Who mounted on the cross that it has been destroyed and vanquished finally. When the sun rises after the night and the whole world is lit up by it, nobody doubts that it is the sun which has thus shed its light everywhere and driven away the dark. Equally clear is it, since this utter scorning and trampling down of death has ensued upon the Saviour's manifestation in the body and His death on the cross, that it is He Himself Who brought death to nought and daily raises monuments to his victory in His own disciples."

St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 5.29

My grandma just died last week, so death has been on my mind a lot recently. At the same time, I've been trying to read through this book by Athanasius as an Advent devotional. There are so many good chunks of this book I could quote here, but I especially like this one, mainly because of that last sentence, in that Christ, the Victor over death, "daily raises monuments to his victory in His own disciples." Athanasius goes on to talk about martyrdom and the men and women of Christ who so despised death that they went to face it head on without fear. Death used to be something to fear, something "strong and terrible," but now through the victory won by Christ's resurrection, it has been subjected to scorn and ridicule and has been made impotent. Instead of feared, it is despised. Death is still the enemy, but no longer an enemy that has power over us. And that power over death is displayed in Christ's disciples as a testament and a living monument to His victory. Our lives can be ruled by fear of death or power over death. Let's choose to live in that power, living in glory, celebrating with all the saints as we sing out the truth, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:55) Praise Jesus!