“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” These words, traditionally attributed to Benjamin Franklin, have become part of American consciousness. We have come to accept death and taxes as inevitable “evils” in this world. If we could, we prefer to avoid them. But there is nothing we can do about death, and even if we tried to avoid taxes there will be consequences. I am reminded of the quote because of a specific situation this year that concerns the paying of taxes.
In the US, April 15th is the deadline for filing our income tax returns. However, when it falls on a weekend the deadline is usually moved to the following week. This year, the 15th falls on the exact Sunday when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So the deadline for filing taxes has been moved to the 18th.
I am not claiming any divine intervention in this circumstance. That would be absurd. But I do see in the occurrence an opportunity to reflect on how a greater and more certain reality transcends any other claim to certainty. Tax Day giving way to Resurrection Sunday offers a picture of the overcoming certainty of victory over humankind’s last and greatest enemy: death.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews describes humanity as “those who all their lives [are] held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15 NIV). Christ then chose to enter into the realm of humanity to challenge the one who held the power of death over them (Hebrews 2.14). He chose to experience death in order to overcome death.
When Jesus died on the cross and was buried on that fateful Friday, everyone—both his friends and his enemies—had concluded that Jesus’ death certainly shattered the hope that they thought they had in him. The words of Cleopas provide an example of such discouragement and resignation: “We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago” (Luke 24.21 NLT). It appeared that death, again, had the last word.
But the resurrection of Jesus changed all that. The resurrection of Jesus Christ secures the certainty of the victory of life over death. The apostle Paul declares: “‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ … But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15.54–57 NIV). In Christ, we no longer need to be enslaved by our fear of death. The certainty of death loses its power before the overwhelming certainty of life in Christ.
—Keith Y. Jainga