December 21

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. — Ps 23:4 BSB

Death, the grim king of terrors, who with his scythe in hand cuts down millions of people, casts a shadow wherever he appears. He enters the sick room, and his shadow falls there; he hovers over the cradle, and his shadow touches the infant's face. He arrives in a letter from abroad, or in the form of a black-sealed, mourning envelope handed to us at home, and these messages or signs cast a deep shadow over our hearts. Where can we go where death does not cast his shadow? Where is the house where his shade has never fallen? He never comes without it. He is "the last enemy," the final outcome of the original curse.

Though death, to a believer, is stripped of its terrors, robbed of its sting, and disarmed of its victory—though, for the believer, it is merely a portal into eternal life and heavenly bliss—yet, despite this, the portal still casts a shadow. Even David, though he was full of confidence in "the Lord as his shepherd," even when his "cup overflowed" with the Lord’s goodness and love, still called it "the valley of the shadow of death." The "rod and staff" comforted him, and he feared no evil, but it was still a valley overhung by dark mountains and overshadowed by the darkness of death, stretching from the entrance to the end. But even so, it is only a shadow.

For the graceless, the Christless, the impenitent, and the unbelieving, death is not merely a shadow, but a terrible reality, for the wrath of God awaits them at the end of the valley, ready to cast them into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. But for those who die in the Lord, enjoying peace through His blood, death is just a passing shadow. The substance of death died when Jesus died. It was buried in His tomb and did not rise with Him, for He destroyed death when He "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light."