Certainty and Security-
The Meaning Behind Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday
Two of our greatest human needs are certainty and security. Every day I see these needs expressed by my two young sons, each in their age-specific ways - finding themselves among strangers, or misplacing a security blanket, or not being fed as soon as the demand arises. What about spiritual certainty and security? If I took a poll, I am sure it would reveal that each of us has a deep spiritual longing for wholeness, certainty and security - a longing that often goes unsatisfied, leaving us feeling empty, alienated and disconnected from reality.
Let me suggest three common perceptions emerging from this longing for something more, and offer an Easter interpretation of each one:
1. The perception that God is hard to define. One of our deepest personal longings, often suppressed or reinvented in material ways, is a search for the transcendent, a search for God. I believe people seek God’s presence and power in many ways - from the tree-hugging of pantheists to the rich liturgy of Roman Catholics, from the rationalism of the deists to the subjectivism of the charismatic’s, from the secular spirituality of psychotherapy to the passionate practice of Wicca.
Recently I saw, on the side of a mug, one person’s perception of the defining element of several religious traditions: Protestantism: “It is the thought that counts.” Catholicism: “Stop thinking those thoughts!” Judaism: “You should have thought of that before!” Taoism: “You are what you think.” Buddhism: “Think a good thought.” Hinduism: “I have had that thought before.” Where am I to go in the supermarket of spirituality to find genuine certainty and security, worthwhile purpose and lasting fulfillment? Which brand of spirituality is true? Which really works? How can I know? Or is God simply indefinable, and my search fruitless?
2. There is a perception that death is irreversible. You only have to look at the carnage and grief reported in the news, to realize that death’s cold hands could claim any of us at any moment. We all know that death is irreversible in this world of cause and effect, in this magnificent universe slowly winding down to chaos.
In the movie Meet Joe Black, “Death” (aka Joe Black) is personified by Brad Pitt who pays a visit on a rich but principled media tycoon (played by Anthony Hopkins) nearing the end of his life. “Death” wants to hang around for a while to get a feel for what it’s like to be human, and in exchange offers the tycoon a few more days of life. But it is only a few days; vast riches and principled ethics notwithstanding, the tycoon’s mortality catches up with him and he dies. And we all accept that death is irreversible.
3. We often feel that happiness is unattainable. There is a constant striving for fulfillment, but how often have you sensed that true happiness is just out of reach, that genuine well-being is just beyond your grasp? Fulfillment is not found at the altars of money, sex and power - although we often go to those false gods in order to find it. Or we may seek happiness through New Age practices, or related forms of self-actualization. But do they work? Or are they merely the latest get-rich-quick scheme for the gurus?
Tony Campolo has a famous Easter sermon titled “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!” and if you have heard the title you have heard the whole sermon. I have talked about God being indefinable, death being irreversible and happiness being unattainable. That is Friday, but Sunday’s coming! The Good News of Easter Sunday is that, where we feel God is indefinable, we discover that Jesus defines God! (John 1:18; 14:9b)! In John 1:18 John says of Jesus, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
The Good News of Easter Sunday is that, where we feel death is irreversible, we discover that Jesus destroyed death! 2 Timothy 1:10 declares that “Jesus has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” In that garden tomb at dawn on the first Easter Sunday Jesus stared death down, broke its power and said, “Asta la vista, baby!” and walked right past into the power of endless and indestructible life!
You recognize the reality and inevitability and irreversibility of death; now look at the empty tomb, and recognize the power of its reversal and defeat through the work of Jesus and the power of God. The Good News of Easter Sunday is that, where we feel joy is unattainable, we discover that Jesus delivers joy! He delivers true joy, lasting joy, and emotional wholeness, the freedom of forgiveness, inexpressible peace, and eternal hope.
Because of Easter, Jesus will give you a purpose to live for; power to live on, people to live with, principles to live by, and a profession to live out! In John 10:10 He defined the purpose of His coming to our world in these words: “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly!” Not just a little bit, not just on Sundays, but abundantly, and every day!
In Steven Spielberg’s movie, Saving Private Ryan, an army captain named John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) is ordered to find a solitary private among thousands of displaced soldiers in the aftermath of the World War II D-day invasion at Normandy Beach. His mission is to return Private James Ryan to his mother, whose other three sons have just been killed in action. Captain Miller and his small group of men successfully locate Ryan, but then are forced to defend a strategic bridge against enemy tanks and troops. Miller is fatally wounded and, as he dies, he reaches out to Ryan and says with great emotion, “Earn this! Earn this!” Years later, as an old man, James Ryan stands in a veteran’s cemetery tearfully looking at the tombstone of the man who saved his life. He wonders aloud if he has indeed earned the greatest gift he received.
Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ died on the cross so that we might have eternal life. That is the only reason why Good Friday is called “Good.” In his final words Jesus did not suggest that we could ever earn such a gift. Instead, he cried triumphantly, “It is finished!” You do not earn God’s salvation; you simply accept it. We began by reflecting that we sometimes come to believe that God is indefinable, death is irreversible, and happiness is unattainable. When that resonates in your experience, you are living in the shadow of Friday. But Sunday’s coming! Easter Day is on its way! In Jesus Christ, and through his life, death and resurrection, God is defined, death is reversed, and joy is gained. Those are awesome statements. Those are bold words. Those are shocking ideas. I have no authority to impress them on you except that God reveals them to us in the Bible. And God is true to His Word, and you can both know the truth of these words, and - far more important - experience their reality!
This Easter, on this Easter Day, will you accept what God has said and done in the cross and the empty tomb? Will you discover the significance of the Easter events? And will you follow-and keep following-Jesus Christ your Savior and Master?
