Skip to main content

Connect the Testaments

March 30: Taunting Death
Numbers 33:50–34:29; 1 Corinthians 15:35–58; Psalm 29:1–11
My best friend’s mother, a dear family friend, died of Lou Gehrig’s disease (als). Over the span of three years, the disease attacked her nerve cells, starting with her hands and feet and moving inward to her vital organs. Every time I visited her, she would be changed—her cane became a wheelchair, and her warbled words were muffled into silence. Although she was fully alert, she slowly lost the ability to communicate her feelings and needs. In the end, only her eyes displayed the tumultuous feelings underneath.
Those who confront the reality of death or the death of a loved one don’t doubt their own fallibility. They are closely acquainted with the reality that so many strangely disregard. And they cling to the hope of the resurrection that Paul eloquently relays, and that the Corinthians were slow to understand and believe: “We will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
Christ’s death and victory over sin and death bring this life to those who believe in Him. His victory is the cause for Paul’s subsequent taunting of death—taunts that rip through with joy for those who realize Christ’s victory: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:55–57).
Lest we think we are any different, the process of death is happening to us and to those around us. Lou Gehrig’s disease is a fast-forward version of the human existence. Why, then, do we keep quiet about the hope within us? “So then … be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
How are you displaying and sharing the good news?
Rebecca Van Noord


 Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. Print.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Furnishings of the Tabernacle

Furnishings of the Tabernacle . ‎The book of Exodus details the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings. As Yahweh’s sanctuary, the tabernacle served as God’s dwelling place among the Israelites—the expression of the covenant between Yahweh and His people ( Exod 25:8–9 ).
Post a Comment
Read more

A Threshing Floor

A Threshing Floor In the ancient world, farmers used threshing floors to separate grain from its inedible husk (chaff) by beating it with a flail or walking animals on it—sometimes while towing a threshing sledge. Sledges were fitted with flint teeth to dehusk the grain more quickly. Other workers would turn the grain over so that it would be evenly threshed by the sledge.
Post a Comment
Read more

Modern Mount Calvary

Modern Mount Calvary ‎Great authorities are marshaled in favor of both claimants—the church within and the mound without the walls. For a long time, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was the only traditional spot pointed out as the place of burial. But with the growing influence of the Grotto of Jeremiah, the modern Mount Calvary, a picture of which we give, increased in favor. This whole discussion as to the place where Christ was crucified, and as to the tomb in which His body was placed, turns upon the direction which the walls about Jerusalem took at the time of the crucifixion. If the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was outside the wall at that time, as Dean Stanley thinks it might have been, the chances in favor of its being the place of crucifixion and burial are increased. If, however, the site of this church was inside the wall at that time it is sure that the place of burial and crucifixion was not there, for Christ was crucified outside of the walls of Jerusalem. And ...
Post a Comment
Read more