The Dignity and Deity of Easter
"Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." —John 19:40-42 (ESV)
Living with a chronic illness means I’ve spent plenty of days living in hospital beds. I’ve been poked, scanned, and medicated more times than I can count. At times, I’ve felt more like a body than a person—a thing needing treatment rather than a soul needing compassion.
My lowest moment as a patient occurred when I was left alone in a room, uncovered and naked. I had lost all dignity. The only thing I had control over was my thoughts, and I thought of Jesus on the Cross.
Jesus was wounded, stripped naked, hung to suffer in a public place for all to see, and then ridiculed, mocked, and scorned. The men who crucified him weren’t satisfied just to watch Jesus die, they wanted to take his dignity too.
But Jesus chose to hang on that Cross, undignified. Unlike me in my hospital bed, Jesus was in control the whole time. And before He died, He did something that displayed the dignity He still had and the deity He most definitely still was.
With his last breaths, Jesus offered comfort to the man dying beside him, interceded for sinners, and secured the care of his mother. He embodied dignity while his body poured out life on the ground.
But that’s just the crucifixion.
The men who believed Jesus to be the Messiah, took great pains to care for His body with dignity. They secured the release of His body from the Cross and treated it like royalty for burial. The humility of His nakedness stands in sharp contrast with the dignity of His body carefully wrapped in linen and spices. The stink of death was replaced by the aroma of love. Then, they placed Jesus’s body in a brand new tomb in a garden, a place where new life blooms in verdant hues. In death, Jesus’s body was given the dignity due His deity.
And then, Easter.
Jesus came back to life, folded his face covering (his mother taught him manners), and walked out of the tomb. He was, and is, the Son of God.
We don’t worship a god who is dead, a god who was overcome by men with murder in their hearts. We worship a God who willingly died in our place, then resurrected to assure us of our eternal life with him in Heaven.
Our God is alive, full of dignity, compassion, and love.
In a more recent hospital stay, an aide saw me in distress and offered to get me a cup of water. Grateful, I accepted. "Would you like ice with that?" he said. I couldn’t answer. I was overwhelmed with the dignity of his question. He saw me as a person, someone with preferences, and he offered to meet my want not just my need. Oh, the compassion. Oh, the dignity.
Question for Reflection:
Easter is a reminder to treat others with dignity; to see them as God created them—unique beings made in his image. People, not things. How can you offer dignity to a coworker? To a family member? To a stranger?
