A Noble Death

As Easter came and went, many of us celebrated in different ways. Some people went to church for the first time while others spent the entire Holy Week contemplating our Savior. I even heard a story of a man whose family stayed home from church each easter so that families would have seats.

If I'm honest, my mind often goes towards Japan on these holidays. A friend, Steve Sakanashi (who is doing some great work in Seattle and soon to be Tokyo, read more here) wrote a blog post last year about bushido (武士道 - a code of honor for the samurai), seppukku (切腹 - an honored death of the samurai, suicide by disembowelment) and how it relates to Christ's atoning work on the cross. While these concepts are not directly practiced today, as the day of the samurai has long passed, they live in--deeply embedded in Japanese culture in idea and belief. Please take a moment to read Steve's writing here, as it is much more impactful in context. Here is a brief excerpt:

This is where Jesus changed everything for me. He lived a perfect honorable life and yet he suffered a shameful death, willingly giving himself up to be shamed and executed, although he had done nothing wrong. I cannot help but think of his death in connection with the highest form of seppuku. He of all people had the power to escape from death at any moment, so in a way, his death was a form of suicide quite similar to Socrates.

I'm grateful for this perspective. It reminds me of Paul telling his audience at the Areopagus how pieces of their culture are but shadows of Truth (which he talks about more in the first chapter of Romans).

This Easter will come and go with the rich truth of the sacrifice of Jesus, the rich tradition of lamenting and celebrating Jesus, unknown to over 99% of the people in Japan. We long to tell people in Japan the truth of Jesus Christ. Next year, by God's grace, we will be there with our brothers and sisters telling the Good News.