He Breathed His Last
“And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.”
Do you ever get discouraged by reading the news headlines, especially lately? I’m not even referring to the inflamed political environment in which we find ourselves, or the myriad of issues surrounding COVID-19 (e.g., masks, vaccines, mandates, etc.). I’m talking about how people are treating each other. People are saying mean, hurtful things to and about one another on Twitter, Facebook, and the comment sections of most news articles. But what is more concerning to me is the uptick in actual physical violence towards one another – often over ridiculously unimportant issues. How many times have we seen in the news lately an account of someone jumping over the counter at a fast-food restaurant to beat up a worker who simply got something wrong on the aggressor’s order? Or how many times do we see an account of a young person just randomly attacking an innocent older person walking down the street? Or a person attacking someone on an escalator? Or a person firing a gun at someone in a not-so-uncommon road rage incident? I often find myself asking, “What is happening to us?” or “What is wrong with these people!?” It’s like we’ve lost every thread of decency and compassion that once held our society together.
I wonder if it’s not a direct result of where we’ve drifted to as a people. We’ve allowed a secular humanistic attitude and worldview to permeate every aspect of public life, notably in various forms of media/entertainment, government, and especially in our schools. We’ve allowed those who reject God to push Him out of those areas of life we hold in common. The secular humanist doesn’t want to acknowledge God and therefore doesn’t want to acknowledge the possibility of life after death. As far as they are concerned, when a person dies, that’s it – they’re just done. Nothing else. There is no more. They just cease to exist. You can see why people with that belief are going to be more prone to acting for “self” (which is the natural bent of fallen mankind, anyway). If a person can convince themselves that God doesn’t exist (therefore, no life after death), it affects how they live their life. It makes it easier to beat someone up if they cross them (or just because they happen to be there) if there are no long-term consequences. It makes it easier to cheat, lie, and steal. It makes it generally easier to walk all over others to get ahead – “survival of the fittest,” you know. If a person believes that this life is all that there is, they’re going to fight to prolong it, no matter the cost.
That brings us to our verse. Jesus died. He was/is fully God, but He was also fully human. And He died. That’s not just a spiritual fact – it is a historical fact (one that, if it could be disproved, would have been by now). The centurion in charge of the crucifixion of Jesus confirmed it. When Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the deceased body of Jesus…
“Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.”
Believe me, this centurion would have been absolutely sure about it before responding to Pilate; for if wrong, his life would have been forfeited. The apostle John records further confirmation:
“But when they [the soldiers] came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.”
Jesus was definitely dead. But that’s not the end of the story. If it were, the secular humanists, atheists, and general God-deniers would be right, and we should all just fight for every scrap of life we can get with no regard for any other person. But they are not right. In fact, they are quite wrong. You see, Jesus died – and He died completely. But He didn’t stay dead. He rose from the dead and was seen by and interacted with a multitude of people, proving that: 1) He is who He said He was, and, 2) death is not the end of things. In rebuking the men of Israel, Peter told them, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” (Acts 3:13-15)
There is an eternity. Our time here is quite short. And what we do matters. There are only two options when it comes to eternity. We can repent and trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of our sins and spend eternity enjoying fellowship with God our glorious Creator, or we can reject Him and His offer of salvation and spend eternity separated from God (the only source of good, light, and joy), suffering in the agony of unquenchable fire (see Matthew 18:7-9; Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 9:42-48; Revelation 20:11-15).
"Jesus said to her [Martha] , 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?'” (John 11:25-26)
John the Baptist told his followers, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)
And of course, Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Eternity is not an option. How and where we spend it is. Choose “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Choose Jesus.
