There are no words more significant in any human language than the words spoken by the angel on that first Easter morning. On Good Friday, it seemed that death had claimed one more victim. For fear of their own lives, those closest to Jesus went into hiding. It was just a matter of time before the Roman soldiers would come to arrest them, and possibly each of them would be nailed to a cross of their own. It seemed that with the death of Jesus on the cross, all the hopes of his followers were banished forever.
That is precisely what death does. Death robs us of hope. In the movie Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood’s character, Bill Munny, reflects upon the death of an assassinated cowboy. He says that killing a man is a terrible thing. “You take away all he’s got an’ all he’s ever gonna have.” Death, however it comes to us, is a tragedy. Death denies human future. How many times have we stood by the graveside of a child and spoken of the possibilities that we shall never know? Or, how often have we buried a grandfather and lamented the treasure of wisdom that we have lost? When a loved one succumbs to the power of death they lose their life, their loves, their possessions – all they ever had, all they would ever have. We too, are robbed of their wisdom, their care, their presence. In death, we trade the warmth of a living human person for a cold, hard grave marker of stone.
Death reigns over world history. Our landscape is marred by cemeteries, battlefields, and natural disasters which are daily reminders of human demise. Our museums are filled with the remains of creatures now extinct. Scientists have warned that the global ecosystem is dying. Some have said that we are facing a period of mass extinction that rivals the period when the dinosaurs became extinct. Almost a quarter of the earth’s mammals face extinction within our generation. A study of the earth’s oceans has suggested that ninety percent of all large fishes have disappeared in the last fifty years. Another study warns that 1900 amphibian species are in danger of extinction, and reptiles are dying out at an even greater rate. It has been estimated that over 1200 bird species will become extinct within the next century. The world’s forests, which provide the very atmosphere necessary to all animal life, are decreasing by astonishing rates. Even the sun, our only source of warmth and light, is slowly burning out.
The ancient Holy Scriptures and the environmental scientists of our day agree as to the cause of our planet’s impending demise – human choices. The scientists decry human irresponsibility in the care, or lack of care, for our world. But in truth, they speak only to the symptom. The ancient Scriptures speak to the true cause of the power of death – human sin. Humanity has turned from God and God has given the entire creation over to the corruption of humanity. It is because of the corruption of the human soul that death has wrecked havoc over the entire cosmos.
But death will not have the final word! The apostle John has proclaimed that Jesus Christ is the life and light of the world (John 1:4). In Christ, God has established a covenant of Life with his creation. This present age may suffer from the cruel reign of death, but Christ has defeated death once and for all. To John on the Isle of Patmos, Christ declared, “Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death” (Revelation 1:17-18 NKJV).
Once Jesus visited his friends, Mary and Martha, as they grieved over the death of their brother, Lazarus. As they lamented, Jesus proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life! He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live!” (John 11:25). Then suddenly Jesus cried out, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43). As the astonished crowds watched, Lazarus came walking out of his grave, still wrapped in his grave clothes. This story reminds us that we shall die, but in Christ we shall be raised as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In Christ’s death and resurrection God has defeated the power of sin and death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s guarantee that life shall prevail. The Apostle Paul has told us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ means that the entire created order will be set free from the corruption of death (Romans 8:19-22). The words of the angel on that first Easter morning – He is risen – give rise to hope for all of God’s creatures. All Christians await that day, when Christ shall appear and once again cry out, “Come forth!
