The Defeat of Death!
“I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices. Even my flesh will dwell securely because you will not abandon my life to the grave. You will not let your favored one see decay. You have made known to me the path of life, fullness of joy in your presence, pleasures at your right hand forever.” – Psalm 16:9-11
The Defeat of Death!
On April 10, 1912, in the north Atlantic, the Titanic struck an iceberg that would tragically and famously sink. During its demise, a young Violet Jessup was ordered to a lifeboat. The hope was that she could set an example, help calm fears, and demonstrate how to put lifejackets on safely. She was even handed a baby to save!
The year before the Titanic, she had served on the sister ship, the RMS Olympic, which suffered damage after a collision, and made it back to port. And shortly after the Titanic, in 1916, in the midst of world war, she served on the hospital ship RMS Britannic. This vessel would also face disaster. It struck a German mine and sank in under 55 minutes. Violet survived, at one point having to jump from her lifeboat as it was shredded by the large Britannic propellers.
All of these events made Violet Jessup an exceptionally fortunate person. God allowed her to dodge death on more than one occasion.
Would Jesus be so fortunate? God’s plan for him would be different. His goal was not to dodge death, but to face death and defeat death for our sake. Psalm 16 was written by the inspired author David, but speaks to the life of Christ. For example, in verse 5 the speaker remarks, “Lord, you are the cup that has been given to me. You have secured an allotment for me.” We may recall Jesus’ similar sounding prayer in the garden of Gethsemane as he makes ready to fulfill his heavenly Father’s will and to drink the cup of suffering before him.
And yet Psalm 16 is often used in a celebration of the eternal life graciously given to us through Jesus’ work! Both Peter in his Day of Pentecost sermon and Paul in the book of Acts, quote this psalm. They both make a comparison: “David died…his tomb is over there…but God’s Anointed truly defeated death”. Here is Jesus, the promised one from God who now resides in glory. Our risen Savior now drinks from the cup of eternal joy. He takes his rightful place upon the throne of David, no longer abandoned by his Father upon the cross extended, but lives today in eternal blessedness and in full control over his kingdom.
And where Jesus goes, we will follow. He has promised to return to take us there to be with him. Just as his payment for our sin counted at the cross, so now his victory in eternity counts as ours as well. David himself longed for that “fullness of joy in your presence, pleasures at your right hand forever.”
Violet Jessup escaped the clutches of death again and again. But she could not dodge death forever. Neither can we, for like her, the wage of our sin is death. And yet take heart! As we walk through life, as we age gracefully or with illness upon illness, as we even face death itself – we need not be shaken. For Jesus who has conquered death gives us the path of life and walks with us every step of the way. This April we again marvel at the reality of his empty tomb and rejoice in word and song that “he is risen for me!” May his good promises this Easter season make your heart glad as you rejoice in Jesus, the defeater of death and giver of life forever! –Pastor David Horton
