Easter weekend begins with Good Friday and culminates with Resurrection Sunday. They are reminders on our calendar of events that took place some 2000 years ago, that are relevant to us all to this day, even if not everyone is aware of them.
Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The enduring significance of the life of Jesus Christ throughout history is eloquently portrayed in the renowned essay, “One Solitary Life”:
“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.
“While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. Another betrayed him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon the cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth while he was dying, and that was his coat. When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
“Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today he is the centre of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon the earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life.”[1]
I learnt in a Good Friday sermon just this morning that there is a field of study called thanatology. It is the study of death, a discipline that examines death from multiple perspectives including physical, spiritual, medical, sociological and psychological.[2] Death is a subject that many avoid learning about, though like taxes, it is inevitable. We can find in the Bible teachings about death, including the origin of death, what death is, what happens after death and how to not fear death.
The celebration of Good Friday provides a grim reminder of the biblical teaching that Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity. Seven hundred years prior to the death of Jesus, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah foretold: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). This was the purpose of Jesus’ death — to bear the punishment for our sins, with the peaceable fruit that we shall not need to perish but can have eternal life.
In the world of emerging technology, there is arising “grief tech” that would enable the living to interact with the persona of someone who has died. “Legacy avatars” in the likeness of the deceased are programmed with information of the person, complete with voice cloning, to offer “AI-assisted grieving” through chatbot conversations with the departed’s avatar.[3] Will it become common for people to create an avatar as a digital twin of themselves, tokenising a real world person? Would we want our avatar to live on in the metaverse, to interact with others as if it was (still) us being there? The interest in such an idea may indicate that deep within us, we see ourselves as more than just physical beings, with mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions, who have value and who desire to live on beyond the physical.
Digital versions of ourselves aside, how convinced are we that our lives extend beyond our physical confines? Some believe that when they die, they cease to exist in any form. The challenge is — how would one know? Christians believe that they will live beyond the grave, for their Saviour, Jesus Christ, has. The Bible is very clear on the verity of its claim, for it says: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile — you are still in your sins… If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:17–19). The resurrection of Jesus Christ is assurance to believers that they too shall be resurrected, because the Bible says: “But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.” (1 Corinthians 15:20, Good News Translation).
In the natural world itself, there is evidence that there is more, much much more than meets the eye. Fans of the Marvel cinematic universe will know of the quantum realm. It cannot be seen by the naked eye but we do not doubt its existence. A recent TikTok video by noxnatura ‘deep dives’ (literally) into what lies beneath (or in) our skin, progressively magnifying a human hand from skin to skin cell to the cell nucleus to mitochondria to DNA helix to nucleobases to water molecule to atom to protons to quarks to theoretical strings (watch it in the link in the footnote).[4] There is much that we cannot see naturally, yet believe about. Examples include outer space, oxygen and atoms.
The natural world points to the existence of God. It is impossible that the intelligent design of the complex life and non-life elements and workings of the universe came about all by themselves without a Creator. It takes much more faith to believe that they did apart from God, than to believe that God created them all. The world is today abuzz about the development of artificial intelligence. Before AI there was human intelligence. And beyond that there is divine wisdom. The Bible says: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19).“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31).
The Bible says that God sent Jesus to be the Saviour of the world, not to condemn the world but to redeem it. The supreme expression of divine wisdom is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us of a cosmic battle between God and evil — the evil is personified in Satan, also known as the devil, an angel turned bad — in which Satan has sought humanity’s ruin. God’s appointed Saviour was the prime target of the devil to destroy, and the cross was the ultimate weapon that Satan wielded to thwart the mission of Jesus — little did the devil know that Jesus’ death on the cross was God’s design to pay the price of admission for every person who wants to be forgiven of sin and enter the kingdom of God. As the Bible says: “We declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7–8).
Having died on the cross for the sins of humanity, Jesus would rise from the dead as was prophesied in the Old Testament and by Jesus himself. This happened on the third day following his crucifixion — and is the reason the church celebrates Resurrection Sunday. “Did Jesus really rise from the dead?” one might ask. This is a legitimate question which every person ought to ask, and hopefully seek an answer to. The evidence for the resurrection will demand a verdict, which is best rendered with an open mind.
The message of Easter is not meant to be a fairy tale, legend or myth. It is a message founded on historical fact, the basis for faith for the believer in an unchanging and life-changing gospel. Confidence in the message of the Bible is anchored on its assertion that all power and authority in heaven and on earth has been given to the risen Saviour, and that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The significance of the “one solitary life” lasts and stays dynamic throughout the ages, and this can only be because his life, death and resurrection took place as told us in the scriptures.
Footnotes
[1] Essay attributed to James Allan Francis, 1864–1928.
[2] Marian University. What is a Thanatologist? Accessed 29 March 2024.
[3] Channel News Asia. Commentary: This festive season, ‘grief tech’ avatars aim to take the sting out of death. Accessed 29 March 2024.
[4] https://www.tiktok.com/@noxnatura_/video/7297411648078302496. Accessed 29 March 2024.