The Grave Must Deliver Up Its Captive Bodies

In the early hours of the morning today I was awakened by my seven-year-old daughter who was upset and speaking very fast. She was talking about what happens to her when she dies and whether she goes straight to heaven or if she might get stuck being buried underground. She mentioned something about the Egyptians and perhaps was thinking about Egyptians tombs she has probably heard about in school or in books. She was very concerned about what was going to happen to her when she dies and being trapped in a coffin seemed to be frightening her. We did our best to reassure her that all would be well and that she could go back to sleep. Her fear has certainly been repeated countless times in various ways as people have worried about their own or someone else’s death. President Nelson’s description of the woman who was “uncontrollably hysterical” when their plane started to go down is one example. But with faith in Jesus Christ, we need not fear what lies ahead because He overcame death. Thinking about my daughter’s fear, Jacob’s words come to mind. Without Jesus, “this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.” But because “of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave…. The grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel” (2 Nephi 9:11-12). Because of Jesus Christ the grave will not hold our bodies—they will rise again to die no more, and that promise is sure.

                I reread a story from President Monson this morning about a boy named Jason who became ill when he was 11 years old. The illness recurred several times over the subsequent few years until “not long after Jason’s 15th birthday, he was once again admitted to the hospital.” President Monson continued, “On one of his visits to see Jason, his father found him with his eyes closed. Not knowing whether Jason was asleep or awake, he began talking softly to him. ‘Jason,’ he said, ‘I know you have been through a lot in your short life and that your current condition is difficult. Even though you have a giant battle ahead, I don’t ever want you to lose your faith in Jesus Christ.’ He said he was startled as Jason immediately opened his eyes and said, ‘Never!’ in a clear, resolute voice. Jason then closed his eyes and said no more.” Jason’s father said, “In this simple declaration, Jason expressed one of the most powerful, pure testimonies of Jesus Christ that I have ever heard.… As his declaration of ‘Never!’ became imprinted on my soul that day, my heart filled with joy that my Heavenly Father had blessed me to be the father of such a tremendous and noble boy. … [It] was the last time I heard him declare his testimony of Christ.” The boy passed away less than two weeks later. His sister who was serving a mission wrote this at the time her brother died: “I know that Jesus Christ lives, and because He lives, all of us, including our beloved Jason, will live again too. … We can take comfort in the sure knowledge we have that we have been sealed together as an eternal family. … If we do our very best to obey and do better in this life, we will see [him again].” The message of Easter is that we need not fear death because the promise of a resurrection is sure. I love Paul’s testimony of the resurrection. He had seen the resurrected Savior and knew first-hand that the dead would indeed be raised: “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:17-21). We have hope in Christ not just in this life but in the next as well, and we look forward to that day when we will be reunited with our loved ones who crossed the veil before us.