“And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his
last, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”—Mark 15:37
Today is the day Christians remember the death of Jesus—Good Friday. Death…good? A man breathing his last as something that is yearly remembered and celebrated? This contradicts everything we and our culture strive for and celebrate. As people we are drawn to life—longevity, new beginnings, fighting for permanency and life is at the root of most of the things we spend our time, energy, and money on. How can death be good? How can we celebrate a last breath.
We can celebrate because the exhalation ushered in eternity—it is the breath we are waiting for, striving for: Jesus’ last breath brings life.
As I write this morning, stripes of sunshine dancing across my journal—I am reminded of the fact that each person is “waiting to exhale” in some facet of life. We are in a perpetual state of holding our breath—we live expectantly for “the next big thing” something that will finally take our breath away, satisfy, allow us to rest easy and drink in the calm of true rest free from striving. We’re all waiting to exhale something—debt, addiction, loneliness, barrenness—freedom, contentment, ease—all seem one breath away. We order our lives around obtaining things we think will satisfy—but if we’re honest, the next thing always calls out to us before we’ve cleaned up the confetti from our last achievement. We can never fully catch our breath.
This is part of what makes this Friday, good. We can celebrate Jesus’ death because He is the only man who truly was able to exhale and say—it is finished. In Him we have freedom to exhale today because ultimately—eternally, it is finished. Whether you obtain the things you are striving for today—the job, the ring, the house, the family—in Christ we can ultimately exhale for eternity. May the many times we hold our breath in this life remind us of our assurance in Jesus—who breathed his last for us. Let our waiting to exhale point us to Jesus’ last breath that opened eternity.
