Death and Taxes

Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

-- Matthew 28:7

The saying goes that only two things in life are inevitable: death and taxes. And the prospect of either one can be worrisome.

We already know about the IRS — and it isn’t going away anytime soon. So why does death concern so many people? For those who aren’t Christ-followers, death represents the unknown.

It’s a gaping, black hole. And who knows what’s at the bottom of that pit or who’s on the other side? And besides, death is just so … final.

But maybe death isn’t so permanent and inevitable. If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have absolutely nothing to fear! In fact, death is simply the transition between our relatively brief existence on Earth and an eternity of joy with Jesus. From Revelation — the final book of the Bible — we read that the troubles, tears and sorrows of life will be a thing of the past. That sounds like something to anticipate rather than fear.

How is this possible?

In short, it’s the Easter story. After Jesus willingly accepted the death penalty on a Roman cross to pay for all our sins, he proved that he was indeed God’s son by fulfilling multiple Old Testament prophesies and rising again to life. The huge boulder that had just days earlier sealed his grave was rolled away. His tomb was revealed to be empty and hollow. And so now was the Devil’s greatest weapon against humanity: the threat of death.

It’s an image that reveals an obvious truth: one day, death will take you and me. But death can’t keep us because it’s been defeated through Jesus’ triumphant resurrection.

Easter merchandise has been on display in stores for weeks. But let’s remember that this special day means much more than chocolate rabbits and colorful, hardboiled eggs. It’s really a celebration about overcoming the inevitable and defeating the unbeatable. The apostle Paul sums up this reassuring news through Romans 6:5:

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

It looks like that list of life’s inevitables just got a bit shorter!