Death as a Means to Our Joy – An Easter Reflection
By Scott Brown, National Director
Death is painful and it spares no one. Young, old, weak, powerful, rich, poor, moral, immoral’– there are no exceptions. While some evade its grasp longer than others, global mortality rates remain 100%. Even among the living, the harsh reality of death is felt in the overwhelming sadness and pain of losing those we love. You have experienced it. I have experienced it. It is inescapable – touching everyone, everywhere.
In whatever way it comes, death is an agent of our enemy, the devil, whose primary desire is to steal, kill and destroy. Through the power of death, he seeks to bring overwhelming fear, suffering and pain to the world – destroying all that God has made.
So it may seem strange to think of death as a means to joy, especially a death brought about by the most extreme injustice, violence and brutality. But as Easter approaches, I am in awe of the correlation between the death of Jesus and our joy.
Through death our penalty was paid and we were reconciled to God.
Joy resides in what Jesus’ death accomplished and the work it finished. Through His death on our behalf, Christ served as our perfect substitute. The worthy sacrifice who took our sin upon Himself, carried it with Him to the place of crucifixion and endured the just penalty it required. By this death we were justified, our penalty and guilt permanently removed, and the wrath of God stored up against us was exhausted. With the penalty paid and accepted, the hostilities between us and God were ended forever. We were ransomed, restored to righteousness, redeemed and reconciled to God where there is fullness of joy! Without Jesus’ death, we would still be guilty, dead in our sin and objects of God’s wrath. His death was the means to our joy.
Through death the devil was defeated and the sting of death removed.
There was undoubtedly a sting on the day Jesus died – a sting felt by those who loved Him and followed Him closely. A sting which I expect struck deeply at the heart of Mary, his mother, and John, standing beside her – the two of them only a short distance away as the breath of life left Him. For three days, that sting hounded His remaining disciples as they huddled together in an upper room. Yet the despair and fear brought on by Christ’s death was replaced with great joy when their Lord and Master stood before them again, risen from the grave in glory! This proved that death and the grave held no power over Him and it validated His authority and position as God’s dearly loved Son. And once and for all, it assured the destruction of the one who had the power of death, that is the devil 1, and the anticipation of the saying that was written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”2
In His triumphant return to life, He also secured eternal life for everyone who loves Him and keeps His commands. A life with Him where “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”3
So through His death we were saved and through the power of His resurrection from the dead we were restored to life, adopted into His family and ensured an imperishable inheritance kept in heaven for us. Without Jesus’ death there would be no resurrection, the devil would be undefeated, fear of death would rule us, and we would have no hope of life. His death was the means to our joy.
Through death God displayed the fullness of His love
Some might choose to die for a good person, but Jesus died for the ungodly while we were still powerless. The fact that Christ would willingly die in our place, while we were still sinners and deserving of death, showed the full extent of God’s love for us.4 I believe it is impossible to remember Christ’s death without rejoicing in His sacrificial and steadfast love. Without Jesus’ death we would have no assurance of God’s love. His death was the means to our joy.
While the presence of death remains painful, death is not a victor. The only victory in death came through Christ and His resurrection to life, which destroyed the power of death once and for all, removed our sin and its penalty, reconciled us to God and secured our life and inheritance in heaven with Him, where there is fullness of joy. This Easter, let’s remember that His death was the means to our joy – and let’s rejoice and praise Him.
1. Hebrews 2:14-15
2. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
3. Revelation 21:4
4. Romans 5:6-8
Featured image of cross silhouette at sunrise by TrueCreatives, graphic designed using CanvaPro. Image of grassy cemetery by Jill Dimond on Unsplash.
Easter Reflection – The Coming of the King
By Grant Dibden
What Christ’s triumphal entry means for us
Easter is the most important time of year for Christians as we reflect even more deeply on Jesus’ death and resurrection. As I have reflected on Christ, I hope to share some thoughts from scripture to encourage you.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem he sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away. ” (Matt 21:1-3).
The Rightful King
This action was to fulfil Zechariah’s prophecy (Matt 21:4-5). The people of Israel had always understood Zechariah’s prophecy to refer to the Messiah, to God’s anointed king. The prophet said: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech 9:9).
When Jesus mounted the donkey—not just any donkey, but specifically a pure-bred colt, as Zechariah promised—he was presenting himself as Israel’s promised king. By his actions, he was saying, “Behold, your king comes.”
It must have been an amazing sight. Jesus approached Jerusalem at the start of the Passover Feast, when tens of thousands of pilgrims were crowding into Jerusalem. As he came to Bethphage and mounted his donkey, he would have been surrounded by people going up to Jerusalem. When he reached the top of the Mount of Olives, and looked over the city of Jerusalem, he would have seen crowds of people streaming out the city gates. As the word spread that the king was coming, the pilgrims who were already in the city came out to greet him.
The Jews knew their Scriptures, and many people in the crowd would have remembered the words of Zechariah and recognized what Jesus was doing. Some of them may have even remembered that when Solomon became Israel’s king, he was presented on the donkey of his father David (1 Ki 1:38-39).
Therefore, as Jesus rode down into the Kidron Valley, there would have been people in front of him, behind him, and all around him. They were waving palm branches, throwing down their robes to make a carpet for the royal procession that was a procession of praise, which was the ancient custom for a royal procession. And as they did that they shouted: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt 21:9).
The Victorious King
Jesus, the Son of David, from the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10-11a), rode into Jerusalem as Israel’s rightful king and their victorious king. Palm branches were an ancient symbol of victory. During the Maccabean revolt, the Jews minted coins with the image of a palm, emblematic of their victory over the Greeks. Many of the crowd were looking for some kind of political deliverance, but that is not at all the kind of victory that Jesus came to win. He came to give his life as an atonement for sin.
The Gentle King
In ancient times, when a king rode into a city, it was usually with a show of power and wealth. Thus one might have expected Jesus to enter Jerusalem at the head of a mighty army, bearing dazzling prizes for his royal treasury. But surprisingly the rightful king, the victorious king, is also the gentle king. “See, your king comes to you … gentle” (Zech 9:9).
Jesus comes to greet his subjects, not with pomp and circumstance riding in his war chariot or at least on an impressive stallion, but with humility and meekness riding a lowly donkey, and a borrowed donkey, at that! And Jesus treats his subjects as members of his own family, calling them daughters because he regards his people as his own beloved children: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!” (Zech 9:9a).
The Universal King
Zechariah goes on: “He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Zech 9:10).
This promise, that one day the gospel of peace would be preached to all the kingdoms of this world is inaugurated in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and King of kings. When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem, he did not come to be the King of the Jews only, but to be the universal king. He came to save people from every people, tribe, language and nation.
What should we do in response?
No wonder the crowds gave Jesus such a royal welcome! He was coming—with all gentleness—to be the rightful, victorious, universal King.
If Jesus is the king, then as his loyal subjects we must recognise his kingship. We recognise his sovereignty by laying our hearts before him, throwing down our wills in absolute surrender, and asking Jesus to govern everything we think and say and do. Then we should praise him as our rightful king who has won the victory over sin and death.
If we are saved by such a gentle king, then we should serve him with all gentleness. Gentleness is one of the marks of the Christian, the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit (see Gal 5:23). Our lives should be living demonstrations of the “meekness and gentleness of Christ” (2 Cor 10:1).
If he is the universal king, we should tell the whole world about him because He is their king, too, and all need to submit to him.
May this Easter season be a time of deep reflection, renewed commitment, generosity and encouraging fellowship as we celebrate the hope and new life found in Jesus Christ.
Note these thoughts are based on an excellent sermon by Philip Ryken and use many of his words.
Featured image by Brady Leavell on Unsplash
Easter Thought
By Grant Dibden
The year has been a bit of a blur. I got started in earnest after Australia Day, had trips to Brisbane, Sydney and Tasmania, and an early Easter. But what really makes it a blur is my father-in-law’s death twelve days after diagnosis. Arthur’s death puts things into perspective. Life is fragile and not permanent. Life isn’t about all the things that we do. It’s about relationships. David Brooks, in his book, The Road to Character, insightfully (more…)
An Easter Reflection
By Grant Dibden
“To me it makes as much sense as bunny rabbits handing out chocolate eggs …”
Easter in Australian society is thought of as a holiday time. And many – most? – people don’t understand the significance of Easter, and often they don’t want to. A local Eastern Sydney newsletter said in their central article on Easter a few years back: “what the hell is Easter about anyway? … To me it makes as much sense as bunny rabbits handing out chocolate eggs. (more…)
Why is Good Friday good?
By Grant Dibden
I remember as a kid laughing at Christianity for calling the day that Jesus died Good Friday. Good – the day that Jesus died! I thought that was crazy. Good Friday, the day the supposed hero died? Surely, it should be Bad Friday! I really had no clue about Christianity. I had gone to Sunday school and knew about Jesus, but I just didn’t understand the gospel.
Good Friday is good because (more…)
Easter in a Covid-19 Environment
Dear Nav Family,
A little over 2000 years ago tonight, the disciples ate the Last Supper, and the next day Jesus was crucified. Jesus had told his disciples that he would be killed, that he could even be crucified, but the disciples didn’t really understand. They didn’t really get it. We know the end of the story. We know Jesus rose on Easter day, but they didn’t. It’s so familiar to us, we can miss the devastation, the disorientation, the debilitating effect it had on the disciples. They had seen so many miracles right before their eyes – healing, walking on water, food from nowhere, raising the dead and hearing incisive teaching from a confident public figure – so it would have been unthinkable to acknowledge that anything could ever change. (more…)
