For those who believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, there is a promise that we will rise, as He did.
Many other believers have gone before us; they now live eternally with Jesus, the original survivor of death.
In my lifetime, there was one such born-again man whose life and legacy remains steadfastly in my mind: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
There are few men whose path of bold leadership rises to the heights that brother Martin ascended.
A very long time ago, Moses led his people, the Hebrews, out of Egyptian slavery.
In Dr. King’s study of the Bible, he found in Moses a personal role-model. Martin’s active 20th-century leadership—inspiring his people to overcome earthly bondage—strongly resembles the precedent that the Hebrew liberator had set 3300 years ago.
This is no mere coincidence.
Dr. King was paying close attention to those most important issues that define civilization. When he saw the resemblance between the bondage of Hebrews in ancient Egypt and the bondage of his own people in jim-crow America, the preacher from Ebenezer knew what he had to do.
Martin’s acceptance of that burden echoed Moses’ mission. But that’s not all. The task that he accepted from God would also, in some respects, resemble Jesus' mission.
Dr. King’s willingness to pay the ultimate price—death—indicated his willingness to follow those Calvary footsteps trodden by the greatest Prophet of all—Jesus.
And like Jesus, Martin Luther King was unjustly sentenced to an execution that he did not deserve.
When Jesus was at death’s door, he knew it.
When Martin’s fate was drawing nigh, he also knew it. He had gotten a phone call.
But he was a brave man. Martin would not let the multiple death threats dissuade him from his God-appointed mission. When he got to Memphis he told his people, on the night of April 3, 1968:
“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
The next day, Martin was shot dead by a white supremecist.
Every year, millions of Americans commemorate Martin’s death in 1968, April 4th. This year, that date coincides with Resurrection Day, the day that we Christians celebrate Jesus' conquest of death.
Furthermore, we believers know and understand that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also gained ultimate victory over death, insofar as he has, through his own faith, has joined Jesus in eternal life.
You see, that night before he died, Martin told his people, “I’ve been to the mountaintop.”
That was Martin’s rhetorical way of saying that he had accepted the terrible mission of deliverance that the Lord had laid upon him. And even though he understood the fateful price to be paid in sacrificing of his own life, he was willing, just as Jesus had been, to do it.
Long about 1977 or so, I was pondering the life of both Moses and Dr. King when I took a walk up Pisgah Mountain. . . not the Pisgah of the Bible-- not the one that Moses stood upon when he caught his first glimpse of the Promise.
The Pisgah that I climbed is in Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, where I live.
And I wrote a song about that experience:
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