At first glance, it's just a bracelet. Thin, black leather holding a silver plate with tiny inscription around my wrist. Nothing to gawk at, nothing to be amazed by, but everything to fall in love with.
For the past week, I've been looking at this bracelet that my grandma got for me. She was so excited for me to have it that she gave it to me as a birthday present a month and a half early. It's small and simple, but I was near tears when I saw it.
It's not that the bracelet is anything exceptional. In fact, had I seen it in the store myself, I probably never would have thought to buy it. But it's the thought behind the gift, and the words inscribed into it, that mean everything to me.
I love you to the moon and back.
It's a cute phrase that's used, and maybe overused, by many. But in this instance, it's so much more than that. It means a lot to me because I know that it's true. I know that if for some reason it was necessary, she would be willing to go to the moon and back for me.
She loves in such a way that I know this gift is more than a cute phrase on a piece of metal. The gift is an outward expression of the real, genuine love she has for me as her granddaughter. The love put into it changes everything for me, and I couldn't be more grateful.
As I've been staring at this bracelet, though, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I've been wondering if this is something Jesus would say to me. Would He look at me and say, "I love you to the moon and back"? Honestly, I don't think He would. I think He'd say something better.
When I think about the way this phrase is used, I see it as a commitment to going beyond what seems practically possible to show someone you love them. So, for Jesus, it wouldn't make sense.
To a God that is outside of time and space, going to the moon and back is nothing. Going to the end of the universe and back is nothing. Instead, He has a love for us that is infinitely better.
I love you to the grave and back.
Not a cute phrase. Not a sweet little love note. Not a nice thought.
Real, tangible, physical love.
I love you so much that I will go to the worst part of being human, and overcome it for you.
I love you so much that nothing will stop me from having you back.
The reason I love the bracelet my grandma gave me so much is because, through it, I can see her love for me. By very nature of the gift, she was reminding me how deeply she loves me.
Sitting on the shelf at the department store, it means nothing. Placed in my hands by someone who cares to the moon and back for me, it means everything.
It's the same reason I love Jesus's gift. In theory or just as words, "to the grave and back" is a weird concept. But Jesus knew that the only way our relationship with Our Creator could be restored was through His perfect sacrifice. He knew that we could never conquer sin and death on our own. He knew that we needed Him to love us to the grave and back.
So He did.
He suffered through every ounce of pain humanity had ever and would ever experience throughout all of time and let it take Him to the grave. He took on the worst of humanity and spent 3 days victim to the terrifying reality that sin brings death.
But only 3 days.
If we were to only say, "I love you to the moon," then we'd go to the moon and the person we're expressing our love for is still here. We'd have expressed our love to someone that we no longer get to be in relationship with.
If Jesus were only to love us to the grave, then He would be dead and the whole reason He died in the first place - to restore our relationship with Him - would have been for not. We'd have no one to enter into that relationship with.
But thankfully, Jesus's love for us extends to the grave and back. The "and back" part is the solidifying factor in the love of Our Savior. Jesus is no longer in the grave and we are able to have a relationship with a living, breathing God. He didn't die and stay in the grave leaving us wondering what it's all supposed to mean.
He showed His ultimate power and love for us by defeating death, so we could have an eternal relationship with Him. Through His victory over death, we have victory, as well. And the prize of that victory is eternal life with the One who loves us most.
With the One who loves us to the grave and back.
