Max Lucado tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The tribe was in need of medical attention because a contagious disease was ravaging the population. People were dying daily.
A hospital was not too terribly far away—across the river, but the Indians would not cross it because they believed it was inhabited by evil spirits. They believed that to enter the water would mean certain death. The missionary explained how he had crossed the river and was unharmed. They were not impressed.
He then took them to the bank and placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn’t go in. He walked into the water up to his waist and splashed water on his face. It didn’t matter. They were still afraid to enter the river.
Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He punched a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water and escaped. It was then that the Indians broke out into a cheer and followed him across.
Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me . . . has crossed over from death to eternal life (John 5:24). So Jesus entered the river of death and came out on the other side. So that we may do the same.
The more time goes by, the more acquaintance our bodies have with that threatening river. More friends and family have departed. More aches and test results make us wonder how close we are. Renewing our minds and hearts daily keeps us hopeful. Malcolm Muggeridge, British journalist and satirist of the last century, shared:
As I approach my end, I find Jesus' outrageous claim ever more captivating and meaningful. Quite often, waking up in the night as the old do, I feel myself to be half out of my body, hovering between life and death, with eternity rising in the distance. Yet in the limbo between living and dying, as the night clocks tick remorselessly on, I hear those words: “I am the resurrection, and the life,” and feel myself to be carried along on a great tide of peace.
The resurrection gives encouragement when we feel under a financial load. A survey last year found that money is one of the most significant stressors for Americans, though nearly half say they are not comfortable discussing it. But Christ assured those who seek God’s kingdom first will find their needs such as for food and clothes to be supplied. (Wise financial planning can also be a big help here!)
And some folks are held under the surface by the past. A friend revealed last week that parents’ favoring her sister since younger years, and abuse in a marriage has continued to darken her soul. Despite persistence to come to a seemingly secure place in family and finances, she has not been able to get past an identity of mistreatment from decades ago. She’s trying. But how the mercy of a savior who went through rejection and suffering and loss can bring us an inner healing, and raising up from the depths of such a soul-chilling river.
In body, in finances, in relationships and memories, Easter matters. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day . . . for an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Cor. 4).
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