Ashland's Resurrection
WEST SIDE'S BUMP FOR THE MONTH
April 2001
I don't know how many of us have this fear or have at least
experienced it once in our lives (from most polls taken many people do)
but the fear of being buried while still alive can be a chilling one.
I remember an old time preacher of yesterday re-telling the story
of how three times in his life the government of his native land
believed he was dead and stopped his government pension checks.
While that was a humorous story, a not so humorous story came out of
Ashland, Massachusetts as told in the Boston Globe on January 26 of
this past year.
It appears that a woman was found in her bathtub by emergency
medical technicians and after doing some preliminary routine checks they
believed she had died.
Unfortunately such was not true.
The scariest part of this story was the fact that the facts were not
discovered until the woman was in a body bag at the funeral home being
prepared for her burial!
Can you imagine the fear that one might feel when trapped inside?
Or, the panic that someone who was alive was being presumed as dead?
In the midst of all the questions people have forgotten that the
story has a good side.
They were wrong! She, who was presumed dead, was still alive! At
least, death for a moment had been turned back.
The fear of death has long been a natural part of the human
existence! It is an unknown, and we tend to be nervous about what we
do not know. It also appears to be an end to the normal, and again
that is something that we do not generally look favourably on!
As Christians we share something in common with the woman from
Ashland. We had been pronounced dead long ago due to our sins. Then
one day Jesus came along and said there was life to be found in the
soul previously believed to be dead!
Not only did he do that, but the
Hebrew writer tells us he did something with our fear, "Since the
children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that
by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death -- that
is, the devil -- and free those who all their lives were held in
slavery by their fear of death." (Hebrews 2:14,15 NIV)
Because of Jesus and his victory over death, we no longer need to
be afraid of either being mistaken for dead or of physical death
itself.
This month the world will be celebrating the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. While we understand that Easter is
celebrated every week for the child of God it is an opportunity to not
only share with others the meaning of Christ's resurrection, but also
to refresh our own memories.
Read the last couple of chapters of each
gospel again, rent a movie that accurately portrays the cross and empty
tomb, read a good book on the victory of our Saviour. Once again see,
that because of the empty tomb, death no longer holds power over those
who belong to Jesus! -- Drew Chapados
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