Letting life overcome death this Easter
Death has been in the news a great deal lately. In fact, it is in the newspaper everyday in the obituaries. You read about both the expected deaths from old age as well as the shocking deaths — such as school shootings — and we are left to weep. It would seem death has once again been victorious and so final. Then you turn the page and move on.
In the Bible, we read that Martha and Mary were sisters whose brother Lazarus had died and was entombed. Jesus had been sent for, but did not arrive for four days. Upon Jesus’ arrival, Martha said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
We identify with Martha because we feel her words. We feel the same when a loved one dies. We feel God has abandoned us. We tend to blame God at such painful times. But Jesus’ delay in arriving was intentional. He had not abandoned the sisters. He was about to demonstrate his divine power and raise Lazarus as proof of his promise. Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
It is a simple question, yet one that offers exhilarating hope and comforting reassurance if answered affirmatively; “Yes, I believe in Christ!” In his resurrection from the dead, Christ conquered death and the grave. Through faith in his redemptive work, he offers that promise of victory to everyone who repents and trusts in him. There will come a day when the bodies of the dead in Christ will rise, clothed with immortality, to reunite with their living spirits and then as St. Paul wrote, Death has been swallowed up in victory.” And “so we will be with the Lord forever!” Easter is about life triumphant! The question is, “Do you believe this?”
Rev. Walderman is the spiritual leader of Lynbrook Baptist Church.
