Death is not the end

SILENCE can be very powerful. We were reminded of this when our Test Match team stood to honour the memory of Ben Hollioake. They mourned the tragic loss of the brilliant 24 year old who died in a road accident in Australia this week.

Thousands of people and a deep stillness.

In contrast, Miss B wouldn't keep quiet. From the confines of her hospital bed, she insisted on speaking out for her right to have the life-support machine switched off. We all felt her anguish - and the anguish of the medical team and the Judge. Commentators noted that she was not requesting euthanasia. Asking for a life support machine to be switched off is very different from assisted suicide.

It wasn't until after the court case that we learned a bit about Miss B. It seems that she is a convinced Christian with a strong belief in the truth of the Easter story. She is convinced that death is not the end - but the gateway to a richer, fuller life in heaven. Countless millions throughout 2000 years bear witness to the fact that this faith gives courage and hope in the darkest of times.

Death has dominated recent news. Suicide bombers from the Palestinian refugee camps cause carnage in Israeli streets. Israeli troops with their superior fire power shed even more blood in Palestinian territories. A devastating earthquake in northern Afghanistan kills thousands. Meanwhile, back at the ranch - literally - farmers are cut down in Zimbabwe. Men - some of them innocent - wait many years in Death Row. And a Nigerian woman narrowly escapes being stoned to death for adultery.

All this tells us why the Christian story, especially Good Friday, is so relevant and so powerful. Jeremy Paxman summed it up when he spoke of "the astonishing force of the Christian story". The Bible story has this astonishing force because it deals profoundly with the stark realities which continue to dominate our modern world. Naked power. Injustice. Innocent suffering. Cruelty. Youthful death.

Yet today is known as Good Friday. Where on earth - or in heaven - did this absurdly unsuitable word come from?

It comes from the Christian belief that this death is different. The death of Jesus Christ - a death by torturers who know their craft all too well - was appalling. He, too, was a young man. But according to the New Testament, by embracing his death, Jesus defeated death itself.

How this can be is, of course, a deep mystery. But the New Testament gives hint and flashes of insight as it reminds us that in addition to all that can be measured, tied down, understood, and quantified, there are vital areas of life which can only be wondered at, accepted or denied and responded to. No one can measure love or beauty or friendship or trust. But nothing is more important than these great qualities.

What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? In his brilliant Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams gives his tongue-in-cheek answer. It is 42! The true answer is to be found in the events of the first Good Friday.

According to the Bible, the cross of Jesus assures us that we are not on our own in a bleak, indifferent universe. God is there for us. It tells us that 'God was in Chris, reconciling the world to himself.'

Rather than using his powers to dominate, Jesus chose to submit to the worst that people could do. So the power of God is seen in symbols of weakness - in a manger and on a cross. Here is power kept in check; power handed over; power utterly controlled by love. One of the most famous of Bible quotations begins, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son ..."

All this still has 'cash value' in the modern world. I was deeply moved by an article in the Evening Press (October 3, 01) following the Twin Towers devastation. We read of man caught on the 104th floor of the World Trade Centre. Last minute phone calls described how he encouraged people to link hands as they stood in a circle and prayed. He was described as 'an inspiration'.

After the appalling suffering of Jesus comes the glory. The disciples go to his tomb and find it empty. He reveals himself to them in a simple meal. He assures them that he will be with them always - by his eternal Spirit.

The resurrection of Jesus is, of course, an amazing event. But the first disciples grasp that it is also a highly significent event. It's not a question of one man cheating death. Rather that Man has defeated death for all of us. The gates of Glory have been flung wide open.

Wishful thinking? A sentimental happy ending? Perhaps. But perhaps not. Many fine minds have studied the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus. One of these is Sir John Polkinghorne, a top flight scientist. John, a Fellow of the Royal Society, was Professor of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge and very recently he was awarded the prestigious Templeton Prize.

John is now a priest in the Church of England. A few years ago he spoke at a series of meetings in York, at the invitation of One Voice. As a scientist he is used to weighing evidence and he has looked at the resurrection accounts in the Bible from every possible angle.

He is convinced that God really did raise Jesus from the dead. So John will be in that great company around the world who will gather on Easter Sunday and declare:

Alleluia, Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Every one of us is invited to the party!

John Young has written a dozen books, including Teach Yourself Christianity and Wrestling With Giants (Hodder Paperbacks). His works have been translated into ten languages.

Updated: 10:19 Friday, March 29, 2002