It’s never easy to lose a loved one, but with a sure understanding of Christ’s Atonement, we can find peace and hope while in the midst of grief and death.
Imagine being one of Jesus’s disciples standing on the hill of Calvary witnessing his Crucifixion. Their friend, teacher, exemplar, and master had just suffered a violent death. As Reyna I. Aburto describes, the disciples must have been “overwhelmed by distress, wondering how they could go on without their Lord” and thought that all seemed lost.
Image by RDNE Stock Project
In her talk “The Grave Has No Victory,” Sister Aburto shares how understanding the miracle of Christ’s resurrection helped her heal from the pain of losing a brother. When Sister Aburto learned about Christ’s Atonement, she realized that Christ “made it possible for us to be reunited as families.” Sister Aburto says that when she lost her brother, “the Spirit had given [her] comfort in a difficult time” by reminding her of the power of Christ’s Resurrection.
Remembering the sacrifice of Christ helps us overcome our grief, just as it did for Sister Aburto. Christ didn’t just come to earth to die for our sins, but he also came to live a mortal life so that he would know how to succor us. His mortal life would even include mourning the loss of a loved one when his cousin, John the Baptist, was killed. Because Christ lived a mortal life and experienced the pains and afflictions of all humankind, he can understand our grief perfectly.
When a loved one passes away, Christ understands our pain, but he also provided the way for us to one day be reunited with those we have lost. The miracle of the Resurrection isn’t just that Christ died and was able to live again—but rather, that we all will also be able to live again. Thankfully, Christ’s miracle extends to us. We get to live again—with our families—because of Jesus Christ.
For many, death is scary and often hard to accept because we may not know for certain what’s going to happen. Will we see our loved ones again? Yes! When Christ rose from the dead on that Easter Sunday so long ago, he broke the chains of death so that we could reunite with our families again. Indeed, the grave has no victory because of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Source: General Conference
—Madison Mulvey, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY AMINE MAYOUFI
Find more insights
Take a look at “How Death Strengthens My Testimony” for more insights about how death isn’t forever.
Read “Jesus: My Hope, My Way Home” to learn more about how Jesus Christ can help us when we need hope.
Watch the Bible Video “Jesus is Resurrected” to envision the resurrected Christ appearing to Mary.