Not Just Lifelike

LENINIf we could reverse aging and end the inevitability of death, we would. In fact, doing just that is the ultimate dream of science. And this has always been the human quest. From Ponce de León’s search for the Fountain of Youth to modern cryonics, we have sought a way out of this one-way excursion towards death. When Hugo Chavez died a few years ago, he was embalmed and placed on permanent (sort of) display, in a glass sarcophagus, near his presidential palace. Most are familiar with the display of Russia’s Vladimir Lenin in Moscow’s Red Square. Others include Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong (China), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and Kim Il Sung (North Korea).Russian historians say that Lenin and Stalin’s bodies on display have given current leaders a sense of legitimacy. I’m sure the same could be said of Mao, Minh and Kim, and their successors. But even with these regimes, over time, their influence will dissipate and their memory will fade.And with the best of scientific embalming practices, the “lifelikeness” of embalmed bodies also fades over time. CNN reported that Lenin and Stalin are both looking waxy and plasticky. And no matter how they look, these guys are dead. Just as dead as the guys buried underground. I added “sort of” and “permanent” in my opening sentence, because eventually, even the best of embalmed bodies will be reduced to dust.The one man who really changed the world was never put on display. His enemies would have wanted that. But they couldn’t, because his body didn’t stay dead.Jesus defeated death, he rose again. Those of us who embrace his resurrection by faith will see him in the flesh. It won’t be in a lifeless state, sealed in a glass case, looking waxy and plasticky. We will see him alive, vivacious, interacting with us, loving us, receiving us!That’s our celebration today! The greatest holiday of the Christian calendar, because it is the reason we are Christian. It is the resurrection of Jesus that is the foundation of our faith. His death provided for our forgiveness. His resurrection provides for our eternal life.

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