What a terrible ending, i.e., Jesus dies, his followers are crying or dispersed and his body is placed in the tomb. I wanted to keep reading, to flow directly into the next chapter. Yet I think it is unfair to do so. The early followers of Jesus had to live through the end of chapter 15 without knowing that there would be more to the story. I cannot comprehend the degree of emptiness and abandonment they must have felt at that moment. All that they had lived for and hoped for ceased to exist in one night.
In truth, it seems that many Christians live as though the story ended in chapter 15 rather than 16. Our actions betray our beliefs. Do we live daily with the mindset that the things of this world are only temporary? Do we live daily as if the best is yet to come? Do we live with the joy that the issues of this physical world are of no lasting consequence? Do we act as if we are just passing through this life as we journey to where we really belong? Is our mindset summed up by the words of C. S. Lewis, "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."
Most of the world believes that this life will end like chapter 15, that is, no hope, cold, in a grave. The secret that frees us to truly live is to always remember that there is a chapter 16.
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