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Thinking Anew – ‘And death shall have no dominion’

“On Palm Sunday we recall the week-long journey of Jesus to his death.” Getty Images

Gordon Linney
Sat Apr 4 2020 - 00:01

‘When I die,” wrote William Barclay, the distinguished biblical scholar, “I should like to slip out of the room without fuss – for what matters is not what I am leaving but where I am going.”

The desire to die without fuss speaks to the concerns many have about dying. Woody Allen went further: “I’m not afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” That, however, is not an option.

The corona virus alert is on the minds of many and especially those considered vulnerable because of underlying health issues. Their concerns will be shared with family and friends. Often unspoken, however, are fears of death or losing someone we love. Tomorrow on Palm Sunday we recall the week-long journey of Jesus to his death. It is tempting to think that it was easier for him, that he had some privileged status which made his journey different to ours. However, it is a core Christian belief that Jesus fully shared our mortal nature as the letter to the Hebrews makes clear: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are –yet he did not sin.”

That first Holy Week, Jesus suffered physical abuse ending in the horrendous torture of crucifixion, but there were other factors along the way. Before he died, Jesus suffered emotionally and psychologically at the hands of his accusers and most of all by the betrayal and denial of his followers.

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The German theologian Helmut Thielicke, an opponent of the Nazis, tells the story of a friend who was imprisoned for resistance activities and tortured, but they could not break him. Two weeks after his liberation the man committed suicide when he discovered that he had been betrayed to the Gestapo, not by an enemy, but by someone he loved – his own son.

Dying is more than a mere physical transition; it can be impacted by our self-understanding, matters of conscience and religious beliefs and also the status of our relationships with others. A prayer for the bereaved from the Book of Common Prayer includes these words: “Grant us, Lord, the wisdom and grace to use aright the time that is left to us here on earth.” This suggests dealing with any negative issues we may have within ourselves or with others.

Richard Holloway warns against turning the death of Jesus into a religious rather than a human event because people who are uncomfortable with the church may lose Jesus. He tells of his attempt as a young seminarian to convert his agnostic father by writing to him after Good Friday devotions. He so much wanted to share that experience with his father. In time, however, he came to see that Jesus belongs to the world, not the church, that he died for all and not a few, and that “the Divine Outsider” was out there with everyone including his father, even if unrecognised.

The cross is the most revealing and informative statement we have of the “God with us” we celebrate at Christmas. There can be differing views as to which representation of the cross is most appropriate and helpful: a crucifix with the figure of Jesus or a plain empty cross. We need both: the crucifix assures us that God understands human fear and suffering; the plain empty cross points to the risen Christ and the conviction that Easter is the future, that, as St Paul put it, nothing in all creation, not even death “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Dylan Thomas gives a human touch to the same hope: “They shall have stars at elbow and foot; Though they go mad they shall be sane, Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again, Though lovers be lost, love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.”

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