Week of Death

We are certainly surrounded by the proclamations of death - just look at the cable news channels and their "death tickers," their stats on the number of people who have lost their lives as the result of the Coronavirus.  Yes, each number added represents a person's life who has been lost.

We are bombarded by the news of people dying around us, and I would recommend pulling away for a season every now and then.  Our Savior experienced death, as well, and He did it for us, and He gives a bright promise of eternal life, as we read in 2nd Corinthians 5:
4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

In the oppressive chorus of death, there is still hope.  We can rejoice in the recoveries, and we can even rejoice - cautiously - in the shift in the projections of how many people will die in the coming days, even though thousands are predicted to lose their lives.  For the Christian, because of what Jesus did through His death and resurrection, we can have hope - hope that He is with us and sustains our spirits in this life, and hope that we will enter into God's presence in the next life that He has prepared for us.

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There has been a lot of discussion about death as of late because of COVID-19 and its spread throughout the world.  And during this Holy Week, it is important to talk about death in the context of the life that Jesus brings.   Romans 5 states:
17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is Holy Week, and while this is a very special week historically for Christians, the dynamics of this week really can be amplified in the light of the Coronavirus spread.  In recent days, we have experienced darkness and death as a nation, and experts are saying that this could be the worst week we have experienced.  Fortunately, there are some that see this week as an apex in the New York area, which has been the epicenter of the disease's attack on the U.S.

The Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, made a direct comment recently that is akin to what I have heard others say or write about the juxtaposition of this critical week and the Christian Holy Week. The New York Post reported:

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Sunday warned that the coming week for many Americans will be the “hardest and the saddest” due to the pandemic.

“It’s tragically fitting that we’re talking at the beginning of Holy Week because this is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives,” Adams said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Adams understands the gravity of the Coronavirus situation...and he understands the significance of Holy Week, when one man gave His life for the sins of the world.  Adams appeared on Focus on the Family last week.  In a summary on the ministry's website, Focus President Jim Daly stated: "Dr. Adams is an eminently qualified physician with an extensive resume, but he’s also a man of deep Christian faith."  Daly went on to write:

At one point on the program, the doctor quotes 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.”

He then went on to say that God is at work in the midst of this crisis.

“People are anxious,” Dr. Adams acknowledged. “They need to know that there is a larger plan, a Higher Power at work and amidst all of this tragedy there are some tremendous opportunities to come together with your family, to love more deeply, to – to do things that we haven’t made time to do in the past, and my hope is that we’ll be able to salvage some good out of this time that we’ve been given while we also work to minimize the harm and the tragedy that comes out of this.”

On the program, which is linked from Faith Radio's Coronavirus Response page, Daly asked Adams about the compatibility of faith and science.  In his comments, the Surgeon General stated, "I just want folks to understand that it’s important to lean on your faith right now and that we will get through this and that there is no disconnect between being a Christian and being a scientist or a doctor or a believer in medicine.”

There are several considerations here, including the importance of remembering the devotion of those who are working diligently to save lives.  Today, Governor Ivey and a group of Christian leaders, including Faith Radio's Billy Irvin, announced the "Ribbons of Hope" campaign, which is designed to honor the "everyday heroes," including those in the Health Care field, First Responders, and government leaders, by tying a ribbon on a tree, mailbox, or fixture.  This shows that we appreciate them and are praying for them.

But, this has been billed as a potentially deadly week, in a sequence of deadly weeks, because even though the modeling seems to be trending more positive, there are still thousands who are losing their lives to COVID-19.  And, I think it is highly appropriate to tie this week of sadness to another week of sadness over two thousand years ago, during which the Savior of the World was put to death so that we might come to know Him, that we might be forgiven and have eternal life.  It is the hope that comes through the death and resurrection of Christ that can sustain people around the world at this difficult time.

Finally, we can pray that our nation and our world might return to God. Franklin Graham, on Judge Jeanine Pirro's program on Fox News the other night, addressed the spiritual implications of the virus, according to the Christian Post:

“This pandemic, this is a result of a fallen world, a world that has turned its back on God,” Graham said in the interview. “So I would encourage people to pray and let’s ask God for help.”

Toward the end of the interview, Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, was asked by Pirro if he gets questions from a lot of people wondering: “Why would God allow this kind of thing to happen?”

“I don’t think that God planned for this to happen,” he responded. “It’s because of the sin that's in the world. Man has turned his back against God. We have sinned against Him. We need to ask for God’s forgiveness.”

We can certainly be hopeful in Christ, and hopeful that in the midst of this suffering and death, people will discover the forgiveness and freedom that comes from knowing the Savior who died for the sins of the world.