A man came home to find a crisis in the house. His three-year-old daughter’s pet turtle had died. She was crying, and the man tried to remedy the situation. The offer of another turtle was rejected, since she already knew you could not simply replace living things like you could a toy. So he suggested a funeral. Since she did not know what a funeral was, he said it was a festival in honor of the turtle. She didn’t know what a festival was either, so he continued explaining until he said, “Actually, a funeral is like a birthday party. We’ll have cake and ice cream and lemonade and balloons, and all the children in the neighborhood will come over.” “All because the turtle died?” she asked. Success at last. Her tears began to dry. She was happy, even joyous at the prospect of what was going to happen. All because the turtle had died. The father was pleased with himself. He had argued his case successfully, and the party would remedy the situation. Then the unexpected happened. They looked down, and the turtle began to move again. He was not dead after all. In a matter of seconds, he was as lively as ever. The father didn’t know what to say. But the little girl did. She looked at the turtle, then her father, thought about what had been planned, and said, “Daddy, let’s kill it!”

That attitude is what many take to try to solve problems. It is the same way the he Jews in Jesus’ day tried to get rid of that popular new Rabbi from Nazareth. Death as a solution. The enemies of Jesus and the demons no doubt had a celebration of some kind when Jesus was killed. But Jesus rose again, and has now given those who believe in Him cause for constant rejoicing, celebration of life here on earth and anticipation of the everlasting life with Him in heaven. His death and resurrection give us the solution we need. We believe and wait for the day we will hear the loud voice from the throne saying:

Revelation 21:3-4 “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

From the perspective of faith, we can say Death is THE solution. Not our own death or the death of our enemies. Our death is the entry into another existence with God, but this is true only because the death of Jesus paid for sins, and His resurrection is our victory. Because of His death, and His resurrection, we have the solution we need.

Revelation 14:13 “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”