Death is a negative word in our society. We ignore it, deny it, fear it, refuse to talk about it, until we are faced with it. If we live, then we will surely die. In our culture we think of death as a door closing, as a time of agonizing grief, as a moment when all questions of "Why" bombard us. Death becomes an enemy that destroys our comforts, our joys and our future plans. We read the obituaries and silently feel relief that our name is not on the list. We count our days and years as proud evidence we are still alive. We shudder and weep as family and friends suddenly die and we remain to experience lonely lives without them. We wear mourning clothes to funerals, dressing in black and sometimes wearing a veil to hide our tears. We use the softened words 'she passed away' rather than state 'she died', refusing to use the finality of the word 'dead'. We all fear death.
BUT, as believers, why do we have these thoughts? If we believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, Son of God, Savior who came for us, born of a teenage virgin, performed miracles of healing, died a tragic humiliating death on a cross, then came alive after 3 days in a tomb and finally was 'taken up into heaven', then we should be rejoicing when our physical bodies die because we will be resurrected and live in our eternal state forever with our Father God and Jesus. Why are we not rejoicing at funerals? Why are we not singing the Hallelujah Chorus?
Now some might say, Why should I believe all that? Did Jesus really die on the cross? What proof is there that Jesus rose from the dead? Maybe He never died in the first place. The validity of Christ's death and resurrection has been debated for two thousand years and maintains steady proof that it happened. First of all, when you read the details of flogging and crucifixion in the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus you begin to understand the physical toll on the body. Flogging was accomplished by using a flagrum, a whip that ripped skin off the body in ribbons, tore muscles and caused extreme bleeding because arteries and veins were exposed. How did Jesus even survive that? Then the physical torture of crucifixion with arms nailed to a crossbeam by hammering directly through the median nerve which caused excruciating pain and left the hands totally incapacitated. Adding to that, a seven inch nail would be hammered through both feet. In order to breathe out, the victim would have to push against the nail in his feet and to breathe in, he sagged back down. Asphyxiation was the result. Humiliation was part of the horror as they stripped the body before nailing to the cross. The soldiers, in Jesus case, also pierced His heart. Any questions? No doubt. Jesus was dead.
Then the question. How did Jesus come alive again? And this is where all our faith and belief come in. If there was no resurrection there is no Christian faith. Jesus is crucified, confirmed dead and is buried in a tomb with a massive heavy stone rolled to the entrance guarded by Roman soldiers. Three days later, an angel appears, terrifying the guards and effortlessly rolls back the stone. The guards report to the Jewish priests the body is missing. So the priests bribe the guards with money to spread the lie that disciples have stolen Jesus' body which in reality proves Jesus resurrection. Jesus appears before women and men, talks to them and eats with them and finally seen by hundreds as he is visibly taken up to heaven. Is there any doubt Jesus is alive in a resurrected body and that all who believe in Him will one day be with Him in heaven? Remember Jesus told Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes on me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
This year on the 21st of April we believers gather in places of worship all over the world and rejoice. He is risen! And those of us who believe and have brought all our sins to the foot of the cross and surrendered our hearts to Jesus will never die. Truly, our death will be swallowed up in victory!
