Before the ResurrectionSample

Jesus is with a group of people during the last week of His life as a woman enters with a jar of expensive perfume. She pours the perfume over the head of Jesus, which some consider wasteful. (Imagine that giving your resources to Jesus was considered wasteful.) Jesus speaks up on her behalf and says she anointed His body for burial. He then sings a song about skydiving, rocky mountain climbing, and going 4.7 seconds on a bull named “Fu Man Chu.”

Actually, he didn't sing that popular country song written by an American singer, but the rest of the above paragraph is true. He could have sung that song in a sense, however, because it is a song that speaks of learning to “live like you are dying.” Jesus speaks of His death on various occasions throughout His ministry, including what He says about the actions of the woman with the perfume. Jesus lives, knowing He is soon to die.

Unlike the song about living like you are dying, Jesus does not look at checking off a personal bucket list of places He wants to go and things He wants to do before He takes His last breath. He does not go skydiving or even ride a bull. He does not go see breathtaking sights or attend a major sporting event. Living like you are dying means something different to Jesus.

As Jesus approaches death, He shares a meal with friends, and He continues to teach and share truth. He prays deeply and fervently. He heals. He forgives. He endures abuse and is reviled, but responds the opposite. He does what He always does: He loves, He speaks truth, He is gracious and compassionate, and He totally and completely lays down His life for others.

It is a good idea to live like you are dying, but not if it makes you more absorbed in yourself and your own desires. Jesus’ bucket list has your name on it…. and mine, too. Laying down one’s life for the sake of Christ and on behalf of others is Jesus’ way of living like you are dying.