🗝️ In Death, Jesus Defeated Darkness

✍️ Ayodeji Oludapo

📅 April 19, 2025 

📖 Scripture

"I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.." — Revelation 1:18 (NIV)

"In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross." —  Colossians 2:15 (NLT)

💭 Devotional Thoughts

For the followers of Jesus, the moment of His death felt like the end. The earth shook, the sky went dark, and hope seemed to be buried along with His body. Mary wept. Peter grieved. The disciples hid behind locked doors, swallowed by fear and confusion. But while they mourned in the natural, a supernatural victory was unfolding behind the veil.

Redemption did not stop at the cross. In fact, the cross was the doorway to an even deeper mission. Jesus entered death not as a victim, but as a warrior. He stepped into the grave to confront and conquer what had held humanity captive for generations. Hell did not receive Him as a prisoner—it faced Him as its defeater.

The silence of the tomb was not a sign of absence; it was the sound of a holy war. In that silence, Jesus stripped death of its power. He took back the keys—the authority—over death and the grave. Darkness was not victorious. It was vanquished.

Think of Jonah, who spent three days in the belly of the fish, a foreshadowing of Christ. To everyone on the outside, Jonah was as good as dead. But God was working redemption in that darkness, preparing Jonah for resurrection and purpose.

Jesus, too, spent three days in the belly of the earth—not in defeat, but in declaration. He stormed the stronghold of death, confronted the enemy face to face, and took back the keys—the authority over sin, death, and hell itself. As Colossians 2:15 declares, He disarmed the rulers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. This was not quiet. This was not subtle. This was a heavenly triumph louder than thunder, shaking both realms—seen and unseen.

🔎 Practical Reflection

Are there areas in your life where it feels like hope is buried? Do you sometimes feel like you’re stuck in Saturday—the in-between place of grief and resurrection?

Remember: God does His greatest work in the dark. While you wait, He wars. While you grieve, He gathers. While you wonder if all is lost, Jesus is claiming victory on your behalf.

The same Jesus who defeated death lives in you. That means you don’t have to fear the grave, the enemy, or the unknown. You carry resurrection power.

🕊️ Closing Thoughts

The cross was not the conclusion; it was the beginning of an unstoppable redemption story. Jesus' death was not weakness—it was warfare. And in that warfare, He won everything. Every sin, every fear, every curse—He took it all down with Him, and He left it buried when He rose.

So now, we don’t mourn like those without hope. We don’t tremble at the grave. Because our Savior holds the keys.

🙏 Prayer

Jesus, thank You that Your work did not stop at the cross. Thank You for going into death for me and conquering what I could never conquer myself. When I feel like I'm surrounded by darkness, remind me that You are the Light who already won. Teach me to live in the power of Your resurrection every day. Amen.