There is a certain delight in being undefeated. The status of being undefeated builds your ego, and sometimes it causes you to feel undefeated. “Nothing can stop me now,” you may say.
What did death possess? Death possessed the glory of being undefeated for centuries. Up to the first century, death had the final laugh. The house of death was intact; unmoved and uncompromised, until the glory of the empty tomb. The tomb was empty because it could not contain the glory of Christ and His Kingdom.
When the tomb was empty, then the household of Satan was threatened; then the glory of death’s undefeated record was threatened. Matthew 12 describes this scene when it speaks of Jesus coming to the strong man’s house and plundering his goods and binding the strong man. This is the imagery we must keep in mind of the resurrection: Jesus comes and plunders the glory of death. He takes away death’s undefeated record. He takes away the possessions of death, and on the Third Day he says: There is a new victor in the world. Death does not have the final word. “O Death, where is your sting?” The answer is: It lost its appetite.
The Resurrection is the true glory; the resurrection is the final word, and death has been robbed. All authority and power belong to the Risen Lord!
