Memento Mori
Genesis 3
“Memento mori
is Latin for, ‘Remember death.’ The phrase is believed to originate from an
ancient Roman tradition in which a servant would be tasked with standing behind
a victorious general as he was paraded through town. As the general basked in
the glory of the cheering crowds, the servant would whisper in the general’s
ear; ‘Respice post te! Hominem te esse
memento! Memento mori!’ = ‘Look behind you! Remember that you are but a
man! Remember that you will die!’” – Brett McKay, Art of
Manliness
The idea that it is good to remember that we will die is
older than the Romans. One of the last things that God said to Adam before He
cast him and Eve from the Garden was, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat
bread, till you return to the ground for out if it you were taken; for you are
dust, and to dust you shall return.” In other words, life is going to be full
of work and futility, and in the end Adam, and all people, will return to the
state from which he was made and become dust again.
Why is that good? Because we die as Adam did and for the
same reason: We disobey God’s command. God’s just judgment is upon us. But,
even more important, we remember death because God did something to save us
from it and from our disobedience to Him. He gave his Son who, Himself, died
taking the consequence for our sin, but who also rose from death.
Jesus’ death is our confidence for life. We read in 1
Corinthians 15: 19-22, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of
all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by
a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in
Christ shall all be made alive.”
Memento mori,
not just yours to inspire you to live well; nor in general, which may depress
you. Memento mortis Iesu! Remember
Jesus’ death – the death that won your salvation, and remember His resurrection
because of which you will rise from the dead and live forever.
Father, I will die
because of my sin, yet You have given me hope of everlasting life by Jesus’
death and resurrection. Help me live in that hope all my days, and share it
with others. Amen.
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