There’s a figure of speech I smile at when I hear it. “Over my dead
body!” I can’t help but think of the movie with that title, about a
vengeful girlfriend trying to chase away her ex’s girlfriends – even as
she resides in the spirit world. Yet it also leaves a bittersweet taste
in my mouth.
I imagine heaven, you see, as a faraway land. Between us and heaven is a large, infinitely deep gap. There is only one bridge, old and rickety. People are always trying to cross by other means – jumping, tossing ropes across, hurrying along the gap to find another passage. None work. Only the brave few who dare to set foot on the bridge may cross.
The bridge is covered in bloodstains and dust. People wipe their feet on the bridge as they stumble across, leaving dirt and past sorrows in their wake. Many are wounded by the bitter souls who refuse to use the bridge. Some people even try to push their fellow crossers off the bridge, claiming the others are not worthy of heaven. Their policing is not welcomed by the bridge, which often breaks beneath their feet.
Some hold to the bridge by just their fingers. Others are safely in the middle, singing happily as they step across, one board at a time.
Jesus is our only bridge to heaven. I’ve wondered about the possibility of alternate layered dimensions – but more on that another time. Jesus is the way we must go in order to reach the other side. Some barely cling to him, while some are safe in his arms. Some, like his disciples with the children, try to push the faithful away from Jesus. Others cast stones at the believers. No matter what you believe, the truth is there. Jesus is our only bridge to heaven.
So when the Hebrews so long ago cast their eyes to heaven, when the prophets watched their dooming prophecies come true, when Moses stood atop the mount, when the Egyptians pushed their Israelite slaves to death by work, when Abraham led his son to the altar, when Adam and Eve fell for the first time – then God looked down with love and said, “My children must come up to heaven.”
Yet we are imperfect. We could never reach heaven. We could never jump across that gap. How can we spend eternity with the Father?
Because Jesus looked across the gap and solemnly proclaimed, “They will come up to heaven.”
“Over my dead body.”
I imagine heaven, you see, as a faraway land. Between us and heaven is a large, infinitely deep gap. There is only one bridge, old and rickety. People are always trying to cross by other means – jumping, tossing ropes across, hurrying along the gap to find another passage. None work. Only the brave few who dare to set foot on the bridge may cross.
The bridge is covered in bloodstains and dust. People wipe their feet on the bridge as they stumble across, leaving dirt and past sorrows in their wake. Many are wounded by the bitter souls who refuse to use the bridge. Some people even try to push their fellow crossers off the bridge, claiming the others are not worthy of heaven. Their policing is not welcomed by the bridge, which often breaks beneath their feet.
Some hold to the bridge by just their fingers. Others are safely in the middle, singing happily as they step across, one board at a time.
Jesus is our only bridge to heaven. I’ve wondered about the possibility of alternate layered dimensions – but more on that another time. Jesus is the way we must go in order to reach the other side. Some barely cling to him, while some are safe in his arms. Some, like his disciples with the children, try to push the faithful away from Jesus. Others cast stones at the believers. No matter what you believe, the truth is there. Jesus is our only bridge to heaven.
So when the Hebrews so long ago cast their eyes to heaven, when the prophets watched their dooming prophecies come true, when Moses stood atop the mount, when the Egyptians pushed their Israelite slaves to death by work, when Abraham led his son to the altar, when Adam and Eve fell for the first time – then God looked down with love and said, “My children must come up to heaven.”
Yet we are imperfect. We could never reach heaven. We could never jump across that gap. How can we spend eternity with the Father?
Because Jesus looked across the gap and solemnly proclaimed, “They will come up to heaven.”
“Over my dead body.”
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