How Easter changes the way we see death
If you ask most people what comes to mind when they think of Easter, they might say chocolate bunnies, children hunting Easter eggs in their pastel-colored Sunday best or perhaps a nice lunch with family after possibly going to church. If you ask most people what Easter symbolizes, they would say the start of spring — the beginning of new life.
And what “life” means to such people falls so short of what it truly is. Shakespeare’s Macbeth described life as “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” And to most people life is a void. Such people don’t understand who they are, why they’re here or where they’re going.
Some people seek a life of pleasure — party on! Have a blast while you last! Eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die! is their creed.
Other people spend their life in the pursuit of money or possessions so they can have status or security for themselves or their family.
Others might, less selfishly, make caring and serving their family, “the next generation” or even needy strangers their primary purpose.
But in the end, all of these pursuits, some noble and some not, fail to fulfill our true purpose.
James 4:14 describes life as a breath vapor on a cold morning; it’s there for a moment, then gone. Ecclesiastes 3:2 says “There’s a time to be born and there’s a time to die.” And so life is a vapor… here today and then gone. Death is a terrible enemy. It stalks the earth relentlessly, taking young lives as well as older ones. Death is an interloper, an intruder and no respecter of persons!
Death is a result of sin, because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Not only physical death, but spiritual death. So death is a debt that is owed. The Bible says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Death is a debt, but it is also a bondage we live with or fear our entire lives.
People choose different ways to deal with death. Many people choose to pretend that it doesn’t exist by putting it in the back of their minds. They might use work, activities or even substances to push away thoughts of mortality. Some try to diminish it by laughing about it. Some people deal with death by attempting to delay it. We should all do everything that we can to keep ourselves healthy through diet, exercise, and preventative medicine. As my physician Dr. Ken Cooper says, “You don’t want to die of something stupid.” There are certain things that we can do to possibly delay certain deaths, but it is inevitable. The statistical fact is one out of one people will die. Now, I’m not suggesting we dwell on death, but we should consider our own mortality and the fact that we all die. You cannot defeat physical death, but you can defeat a death that is far worse – spiritual death. Such death is the eternal separation from God and all hope.
Scripture tells us that Jesus was brought into this world not that He should teach truth, cause the blind to see or cause the physically dead, like Lazarus, to rise. Jesus, even as a baby in swaddling clothes, was born to die. All of his life was a preparation for what happened at the cross.
The events of our Lord’s last week occurred in rapid succession, but were never out of his control. What happened to Jesus throughout his final week, or Passion Week, were not accidents, but divine appointments. Death and resurrection was his divine destiny, predicted centuries earlier by the prophets of God. Because Jesus defeated the enemy, he destroyed death. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die....” (John 11:25–6). And because he physically died and rose again, we can spiritually rise again. We are no longer in the bondage of death, but according to Romans 5:17, “We now reign in life.” We live and this is our hope! The victory is ours in Jesus Christ!
I pray you’ll discover the true hope of Easter. Jesus is our greatest hope. This hope he gives is not the vapid hope of a positive mental attitude, the campaign promise of political parties or a feeling that something better in our lives might happen. It is a confident hope, a knowing hope. A hope that has already been fulfilled by Christ, the living Savior, and all we need to do is believe.
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Dr. Jack Graham is the pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in America. He is also a noted author, and his PowerPoint Ministries broadcasts are available in 92 countries and are heard daily in more than 740 cities. Follow him @jackngraham.
