Here it is figured as being a great gloomy fortress, with bars and gates and locks, of which that " shadow feared of man " is the warder, and keeps the portals. But he does not keep the keys. The kingly Christ has these in His own hand.
^ When land on both sides of a river is held by the same farmer he also has the rights of the water. In the same manner Jesus Christ is the owner, on this side as well as the other side. Consequently He has the rights of the river which divides the two worlds.^
1. Jesus went into death and Hades to become their Master on behalf of men. It was not necessary for Him to seek the keys of death and Hades for Himself, for He was in Himself the Lord of Life, and death and Hades were His vassals. It was humanity that had lost the keys, and was in bondage to death and Hades, and it was for humanity, and as its representative, that Jesus " became dead," in order that He might " become alive again " and
1 J. Waddell. ^ Richard Jones.
REVELATION i. 17, 18 55
bear for us the keys of death and Hades. " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself like- wise took part of the same ; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
Because He was the " Living one," He broke death's power, and Hades could not detain Him. It is a Divine paradox that the Lord of essential life should enter into death and Hades at all, but it would have been more than a paradox, it would have been the subversion of eternal truth and reason, if they had been able to detain Him. By voluntary surrender He entered into their domain, and by His will He burst their bands asunder and shattered their prison. They were compelled to admit into their stronghold One stronger than they, and they were conquered in their own citadel. They who had conquered millions were at last conquered for men by the Son of Man. With the majesty of in- vincible life all was measured out beforehand, not only the entrance into death's domain, but also the rising on the third day. Conquer- ing all the dark domain, He came forth bearing the keys of death and Hades. " I became dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore."
^ There is a well-known engraving of Monica and her son St. Augustine. They clasp hands in the twihght, and look wistfully into the open sky. They are not gazing at the stars, their eyes are turned towards the infinite; they are asking — Beyond the horizon, what? Who will read for us the everlasting riddle? There is a little poem by George MacDonald —
Traveller, what lies over the hill ?
Traveller, tell to me ; I am only a child at the window-sill,
Over I cannot see.
A verse in Eichard Baxter's hymn answers it well —
My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim ; But 'tis enough that Christ knows all.
And I shall be with Him.^
2. Jesus now carries the keys. Keys are symbols of authority and law ; and the keys of death remind us that government and
^ F. Harper, A Broken Altar, 47.
56 FEAR NOT
order prevail in the realm of mortality. Having regard to events which we constantly witness, it might seem that death is entirely lawless. Sweeter than the virgin rose, the young perish with the rose, whilst the very aged wearily grow older still ; the strong are broken by sickness in a day, whilst the feeble linger on in help- lessness and pain; the good cease from the land, whilst the vicious remain to torment and pollute. We know not when death will make its appearance, or whom it will strike ; it seems the most fitful of agents, setting at naught all probability and prophecy. But just as the meteorologist sees, and sees ever more clearly, how law governs the wind which bloweth where it listeth, so the actuary discerns regulating principles under the apparent capriciousness of death, and bases his insurance tables upon those ascertained principles. However it may seem, the dark archer never draws his bow at a venture. The gate of the grave is not blown about by the winds of chance ; it has keys, it opens and shuts by royal authority.
To have the key of any experience means to have entered into it and passed through it and endured it, and learned its secrets and made them your own.
Now Jesus knows what dying is like, and He knows what comes after. By the grace of God He tasted death for every man. He Himself felt that fear of it which makes cowards of us all. He Himself shrank from it, as we do. He Himself endured it, as we must. He suffered far more than any other man ever did or ever need, suffer. Of all men He was most solitary and forsaken. He trod the wine-press alone. He died deserted, in the dark. He Himself gave up the ghost, and went down into a human grave. He was crucified, dead and buried, and He descended into Hades. He went wherever we, in our turn, must go. He passed the mysterious gateway, and as Man He entered the unseen world, and all the secrets of that unutterable experience belong to Him.