The Paradox of Death

Clearly then, a lot revolves around death; 
and how one understands death depends upon how one perceives it.
 
As a biological event, death is unavoidable and simply a matter of fact: 
all things that come to be in time will pass away in time. 
 
We were born without any choice on our part. 
Through an act of procreation between a male and a female, we have each been cast into existence – an existence, moreover, in which whatever we do we will die. 
However “good” we try to become, we assuredly will die
• again, without any choice on our part. 
 
So much for freedom and free will!
 
In fact, death is the only unavoidable part of life. 
It is the only thing which I can be sure of, 
and, thus, the only thing which I must contemplate.
Death is a necessity in my life, as my life is a given for me.
 
However, as we begin to reflect on the fact of death in the light of Christ’s 
triumph over death, 
we can begin to see further aspects to this, 
making the transition from a human to a divine perspective.
 
The first is that death is, in fact, tragic. 
 
This is, of course, a natural reaction. 
Yet why it should be so, and not simply a neutral fact, 
is really only understood in the light of Christ. 
 
Prior to the coming of Christ, there was no real sense in the Old Testament that death itself is tragic; 
death, as we said above, is a matter of fact. 
Violent death, death at the hands of the ungodly and wicked is certainly tragic. 
But death at the fullness of ripe old age, with family around, in peace, and with a proper burial was held to be natural, right and proper.
Now, however, in light of Christ’s victory over death, death is revealed to be “the last enemy” (1 Cor 15:26). 
We can now understand that men and women don’t simply die as a neutral, biological fact; 
they die by having turned away from their Creator, their only source of life. 
 
Our turning away, our apostasy, our falling into death 
is not simply something that happened at the beginning of time
• someone else’s fault! 
It is something that each of us struggles with constantly in this life. 
We are constantly tempted, as Adam was at the beginning, to think that we are 
actually sufficient unto ourselves, that we have life in ourselves –
that the life I have is my own, to do with as I please, 
and that should I perhaps feel that I want to be “good” or “religious,” 
I can do so by doing something charitable for my neighbor 
(as long as it doesn’t threaten my own stability and well-being), 
or by allocating some time to God 
(on Sundays, perhaps, for I don’t want to be a fanatic after all!).
 
Yet living this way, eventually and certainly we will find out that however “good” or “religious” we make ourselves, we will still die, 
returning again to the earth as dust.
 
However, if we take our reflection one step further, in the light of Christ, we can see even greater profundity in the depths of the wisdom and the providence of God. 
 
Christ’s work is not simply an ad hoc measure in response to a man-made problem. 
Rather, just as his passion is the starting point for understanding the tragic dimension of death, so, too, it is the starting point for understanding the overarching work of God.
 
Death is indeed the catastrophe that happens when the creature turns his back on the Creator, the source of life. 
Yet, Christ’s own work has turned death inside-out, showing himself to be stronger than death, 
and proving himself to be the one who is ultimately and totally in control from the beginning: 
All things are in his hands and providence – even our apostasy. 
Turned inside-out, death now becomes the means whereby the creature returns to God, 
and, in fact, is fashioned by God as a living human being.
 
 
The full scope of what we considered earlier – that Christ destroyed death by his death – now comes to light.
It was by his death –
that most human of actions, and the only thing that we have in common from the beginning of the world onwards, and an action which expresses all the weakness and the impotence of our created nature
• by this, and nothing less has Christ shown himself to be God. 
In so doing, and without minimizing the tragedy of death, Christ has opened up a way of seeing a deeper mystery in death and has transforming death throughout all time: 
for what was once the end, 
now becomes the beginning 
of a deeper mystery.

Смотрите также:
«Behold the Human Being» – «It is Finished»