Deliverer

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 2:14-15

“The deliverer will come. . . .”; He . . . shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death . . .
— Romans 11:26; Hebrews 2:14

My son David, at age 3, found a picture that captivated him. He’d bend over it on the floor and look, and look. The picture was of a wood carving from an old altar in Europe. The carving showed Jesus kicking down the gate of death.

One night during a storm, the power went out. The boys had been in bed for a while, but now there was no nightlight. It was dark. Scary dark. I checked on them, listening outside the door. I heard David singing. He apparently knew only two phrases and kept singing them over and over: “I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it. . . .”

I listened a bit and then opened the door to go in. But before I got far, David sat upright in his bed and said, “Show me the picture, Mommy— the kickin’-down- the-door picture.” He had obviously been thinking about the Jesus carving as he lay in that dark place. And I think that image of Jesus—the deliverer kicking down the door of death and mightier than any of our fears—prompted David to sing his song in the night.

David preached a sermon to my heart. When we are in a dark and scary place, we can still sing songs if we remember Jesus—who he is and what powers he has overcome in his saving love for us.

Jesus, thank you for delivering us from sin and death—and from every dark fear. Be our song in the night. Amen.

Written by: Lora Copley