Benjamin Franklin was one of the great men behind the American Revolution in the 1770s. He helped write the Declaration of Independence and was involved in the writing of the Constitution. He had to be a pretty smart fellow. Franklin accomplished much in his life, including several writings including the Silence Dogood letters and Poor Richard’s Almanac. While he is remembered for a great many things, one of his quotes has lasted seemingly longer than any of them, and it regards the dependability of the Constitution. In a letter to a friend in France, he writes, “Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” The idiom of nothing being certain but death and taxes seems particularly poignant in the month of April. On April 15th, each year, our income taxes are due. It’s a source of stress for many people, making sure they have all the forms filled out and submitted on time, and balancing it with everything else going on in their lives. Not to mention those occasions where you find out you actually owe money and aren’t getting a refund.
But the other part of that idiom is death. Death is inevitable. We will all find that one day, our hearts will stop beating, and we’ll be ushered into death. Some people are afraid of that day. Some people have peace about death. As we near the time of Easter, our minds are probably drawn to Jesus’ death. It’s easy to look at certain parts of the lead up to his crucifixion in the gospels and think that he was at peace about death. He didn’t say much in his defense to Pilate or the High Priest. He just took it. Other aspects of it suggest that he was in serious distress. He prayed to the Father that this cup would pass from him. He was sweating blood. On the cross, he exclaims, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” Overall, he was experiencing a great deal of pain and emotion in those 12ish hours between getting arrested and being nailed to the cross.
Now, all that being said, Jesus had a luxury as God that we as humans do not necessarily have. He had the perspective of eternity. He could see what was going to happen afterward. He knew the mission and purpose to the nth degree. He knew that after 3 days, he would get up out of that grave, and spend another 40 days on earth before ascending to heaven. He knew the suffering would be momentary in the grand scheme of things. There are still aspects of the process of death that are a mystery to us. But Jesus is lord over it all. He knew exactly what was going to happen on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and everything in between and after. And it was because of the result of his death and resurrection that he had no qualms about going through it all.
I came across a quote by Dallas Willard about a month ago that said, “Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we don’t have to. He died on the cross so that we would join him.” Any fear, pain, or mystery was going to be worth it for Jesus to go to that cross because he knew that you and I would join him one day. It is for that reason that the writer of Hebrews tells us “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Jesus may have had issues with drinking the cup that the Father had for him, but internally, he had joy because of what this one day of suffering would bring for the rest of eternity. It only leaves us with the question of what we’re going to do about it. Jesus did his part to repair the broken relationship with God. He fulfilled the Law that we couldn’t. He died the perfect death for us. He was the Lamb of God sent in our place. But none of it matters if we don’t follow up his action with the appropriate response of following him as our Lord and Savior.
Jesus gave his all for us, spending 33 years on this Earth, showing us how to live, and teaching us how to follow Him. All that was in preparation for his death and resurrection. It’s now our time to give our all for him, living to show his love to the people around us. So this Easter, I invite you to explore your life. Find those areas where you aren’t giving your all to Him. What are the areas of your life that are still enslaved to sin? God wants those areas. Jesus died to set us free from those things, so that we can serve Him. And I know it’s hard to give up the sin in our life sometimes. Sin sometimes feels good. Sometimes we think it is good. The Bible tells us that the Devil masquerades as an angel of light. He has his ways of tricking us into doing bad things, but we need not give in to his efforts. Instead, let’s be honest with ourselves this Easter, and give over our sins to God so that he can make us more like Jesus, and so that we can have the hope of one day joining him, as Jesus is waiting eagerly for us.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you -1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)
