The video of Johnny Cash performing “Hurt” has been viewed over 19 million times on YouTube. It is unusually powerful for a music video because of the way it shows the legendary Cash at the end of his life, thinking about those who have already left him and those he will soon leave. It reveals regret for mistakes made and for youth faded. And it recognizes the human incomprehension at death, which comes, as Eccesiastes 3:11 puts it, because “He has put eternity in man’s heart.”
Yet at the same time Cash’s video offers a glimpse of a hope for redemption – the images of Christ’s crucifixion point to something more going on here.
This is not Cash’s song. It was written by Trent Reznor, of the Nine Inch Nails, and when Reznor sings it, it offers nothing but total nihilism. Cash takes a song of despair and turns it upside down. He doesn’t flinch from the bitterness of death, but somehow turns it to worship – “You could have it all, my empire of dirt…” – a recognition that all he has achieved is nothing in comparison with the achievement of Christ at the cross.
[As an aside, Cash also does something similar with the song “Personal Jesus” which as sung by Depeche Mode sounds only mocking, but on Cash’s lips becomes a declaration of faith. Truly a great man.]
And that is the message of Easter – everything gets turned upside down.
The inevitability of death
Death was the penalty for disobedience. God warned Adam & Eve what would be the consequence for disobedience: “You shall die” (Genesis 2:17). They disobeyed, and they died. Ever since, as Philip Larkin put it, “Life is slow dying.”
Every life heads towards sorrow. The people we love die; or we die and leave those who love us bereaved. As Cash sings, “Everyone I know goes away in the end”
This is the first in a five-part series during which we will be looking at some of our enemies: Guilt & Shame; Fear; Ugliness; Injustice. But death really is the greatest enemy of all.
Because death is the enemy we spend all of life fighting it, and adopt different strategies to do so…
Pursuing health: We spend billions on health care, beauty products and keeping fit. But we still die! Arthur Lydiard was an acclaimed athletics coach and the “father of jogging”, who produced two Olympic champions and was credited with inspiring the worldwide jogging craze. At one point he was running 200 miles a week. He was a healthy guy! And he lived until he was 87. But he still died, collapsing from a suspected heart attack in a Texas hotel.
Denial – recklessness: Some people delay death by defying it through living on the edge. Goran Kropp was an adventurer who reached the pinnacle of his career as an adventurer by cycling 7,000 miles from Sweden to Nepal, climbing Everest without porters or bottled oxygen, then cycling back to Sweden.
Kropp set out from Stockholm on October 16 1995, riding a custom-built, 18lb bicycle and towing 240lb of climbing and camping gear in a trailer. His route took him through eastern Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and finally Nepal. By the time he arrived in Kathmandu, he had been pelted with rocks, assaulted with a baseball bat, and run off the road, He repaired 132 flat tyres.
When he left the staging ground in Kathmandu in April 1996, he became the first climber to carry all his equipment (weighing 143lbs) to Everest Base Camp, at 17,100ft. From there he made his way up the South Pillar, doing his best to steer clear of other climbers, doing his own route-finding, eschewing the fixed ropes and carrying all his own food.
His first attempt ended in frustration when he was forced to turn back, having run out of steam 350ft below the summit. Despite this blow to his morale, and in the face of rapidly deteriorating weather that would result in the deadliest season in Everest's history, he steeled himself for another try. That failed too, due to dangerous snow conditions.
Then, on May 9-10, the great storm arrived, the worst in living memory, catching 40 climbers from eight expeditions high on the mountain; eight died in the disaster. A few days after the storm subsided, Kropp set off for his third and final attempt, still without Sherpas and without bottled oxygen. On reaching the summit he lingered for just four minutes, deeming it prudent to get his blue, oxygen-deprived fingers to a lower altitude as soon as possible.
He spent a few weeks in Katmandhu recuperating before beginning the 7,000-mile ride back home.
Amazing! Inspirational! But Kropp still died, aged 35 from a fall while rock climbing on a popular route.
Denial – passivity/indifference: This is probably a more common strategy – “Just don’t think about the big issues. Pretend they’re not there and they won’t get you!” Trouble is, they are, and they will!
Ambition: Some people fight death by ambition – be the best, have the most, get to the top. Perhaps the most ambitious man of all time was Alexander the Great. He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle.
Alexander assumed the kingship of Macedon following the death of his father Philip II, who had unified most of the city-states of mainland Greece under Macedonian hegemony in a federation called the League of Corinth. After reconfirming Macedonian rule by quashing a rebellion of southern Greek city-states and staging a short but bloody excursion against Macedon's northern neighbours, Alexander set out east against the Persian Empire, which he defeated and overthrew. His conquests included Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia, and he extended the boundaries of his own empire as far as Punjab, India.
Alexander had already made plans prior to his death for military and mercantile expansions into the Arabian peninsula, after which he was to turn his armies to the west (Carthage, Rome and the Iberian Peninsula).
Alexander changed cultures by integrating many foreigners into his army. He also encouraged marriages between his soldiers and foreigners, and he himself went on to marry two foreign princesses.
His legacy and conquests lived on long after him and ushered in centuries of Greek settlement and cultural influence over distant areas. This period is known as the Hellenistic period, which featured a combination of Greek, Middle Eastern and Indian culture. Alexander himself featured prominently in the history and myth of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. His exploits inspired a literary tradition in which he appeared as a legendary hero in the tradition of Achilles.
But Alexander couldn’t beat death! He died after twelve years of constant military campaigning, aged 32, possibly as a result of malaria, poisoning, typhoid fever, viral encephalitis or the consequences of alcoholism.
The point is, Whatever strategy you adopt to fight death, we are all working to the ultimate deadline. Death is the No. 1 enemy that defeats everyone in the end. If we are to beat it, we need a hero who is stronger than death.
Death is the big one. In movies, the last enemy to be destroyed is always the head villain (it wouldn’t be quite the same if Alan Rickman died half way through Die Hard, or if Jack Bauer killed the chief terrorist by 11am). The last enemy is always the most dangerous villain of all, and the reason why the other villains are there. It’s the same in Scripture. Death is the biggest of the enemies and the explanation for the others. If there was no death, there wouldn’t be any war or injustice or fear or sickness. So if you can abolish death, you can totally strip all the other enemies of their power.
Where is a hero like this going to come from? How is he going to do it?
Jesus, Our Hero!
That’s the Gospel of Jesus and resurrection! On Easter Sunday, the biggest of all the villains was totally and completely undone. The tomb was empty, and it still is. And that means that at least one person has conquered the grave, smashed the last enemy, and overturned the curse of death that has afflicted every human since time began. A champion only has to be killed once. Death had a pretty strong track record, until it faced Jesus, to whom it had no answer whatsoever. His resurrection life was simply too powerful. So, as Paul taunted: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O grave, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).
Resurrection Power
Jesus did not rise “spiritually,” or “metaphorically.” His was a real, physical resurrection. In order to beat death we too, have to share in this resurrection power. This is the only death-defeating strategy! The Apostle Paul describes this strategy in 1 Corinthians 15…
1 Corinthians 15:50
This body is going to die; there’s nothing you can do about it; you’re not going to get to ‘heaven’ with it. In your body there is no re-incarnation; no hope of a better future. If we are going to beat death we need something to happen to us that changes this inevitability.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
How these things will happen is mysterious, but the mystery has now been made known to us through what Christ has done. The Corinthians were looking for answers to life’s big questions, but the only real answer is Jesus. He now has an imperishable body, and in him we can be changed so that the inevitability of our current condition is reversed.
In describing this transformation Paul is talking about what happens to believers in Christ (see 15:1-2). The apostle Peter says something similar in 1 Peter 1:3-5. This is what happens to Christians! This is where we’re headed! Our bodies will be Imperishable, Undefiled, Unfading – this is what we will become!
1 Corinthians 15:53-55
This must happen because it has already happened in Christ. He is the firstfruits (15:20), and we will be like him! Those who are in Christ, must share in his resurrection. Resurrection becomes an inevitability! It is because of this that Paul can taunt death! Death still seems to win; but it is a broken power. Paul can look it in the eye, shake it by the collar and laugh at it.
1 Corinthians 15:56-57
Sin is the reason death can sting us. Disobedience led to death. Sin is given its power because it makes us want to do what we are not meant to do. Naturally our desires are the opposite of God’s will.
But Jesus has nailed sin to the cross (Colossians 2:13-15). He has made it possible for us to fulfil God’s will – not by our own actions but by sharing in what he has done. Our sins are exchanged for his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), and he makes it possible for us to share in his resurrection power.
Death defeated
The hope of Easter is not metaphorical. It is not even merely ‘heaven’. It is the hope of resurrection! Because resurrection is our inevitable destiny Christians can face death boldly. Death is no longer our end, but our beginning. As Spurgeon put it:
Death is the end of dying. The day a believer dies, dying is done with forever. The saints who are with God will never die again. Life is wrestling and struggling, but death is the end of the conflict. Death is rest and victory. Life is full of sinning, but blessed be God, death is the end of that. No transgression or iniquity will follow us to heaven.
Life is longing, sighing, crying, wasting away, and desiring. Heaven is enjoying, possessing, and delighting one's self in God. Life is failure, disappointment, and regret. These emotions are over when death comes, for glory dawns with satisfaction and intense contentment.
The day of our death will be the day of our cure. There are some diseases that will probably never be healed until the last Physician comes. Then with one gentle touch of His hand, we will be healed forever. All infirmity and all sickness will vanish in our last hour. Blind sister, you will have your eyes. You who lost your hearing will hear the song of angels. You who limp will dance. You will have no infirmity. Death cures the ills of old age.
Our death day will be the loss of all losses. Life is made up of losses, but death loses losses. Life is full of crosses, but death is the cross that brings crosses to an end. Death is the beginning of our best days.
Death is no longer the enemy! The hurt has been healed. Jesus defeats all enemies. Jesus defeats death!
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!
Application Questions
• How does “Hurt” make you feel?
• How is it that we can know the bitterness of death yet say with Paul, “O death, where is your sting?”
• Do you know that your sins have been forgiven?
• Why is it important to understand that we are headed not only for ‘heaven’ but for life after life after death?
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