What does Memorial Day have to do with Bible prophecy?
This past Monday, we honored our fallen soldiers and lifted them up for the ultimate sacrifice they made for our nation and our freedoms. Memorial Day, in and of itself, serves as a living memorial, helping us pause and reflect every year.
The Bible is likewise filled with memorials the Lord has established to help us remember not only the past work He has done through His people but also the future work He will do as prophesied. The Old Testament provides many examples of memorials that the Lord gave His people to help them remember His salvific work and mighty deeds.
We can go all the way back to Genesis, when the Lord placed a rainbow in the sky to commemorate His promise not to destroy the earth with a flood. The Jewish people still commemorate the Passover thousands of years after the Exodus. We can look at the twelve stones piled after Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land. We can talk about how Esther bravely rescued her exiled people in Persia, a story celebrated to this day as Purim. The Lord instituted these commemorations, and many more, so that His people would reflect on His loving-kindness and mercy.
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Today, the Church remembers Christ’s atoning sacrifice on every Sunday, the Lord’s Day. We spend the Easter season gathering to commemorate the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection. We remember not only His victory over death but also our freedom in Christ and the promise of His coming to rapture the church, when Jesus will grant resurrected bodies to all who are saved.
Jesus once said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Those who make the ultimate sacrifice have demonstrated the ultimate act of love. We are so blessed that, as a Judeo-Christian nation, we can collectively observe Memorial Day and remember our fallen soldiers, who made such a sacrifice so that we can enjoy religious freedom today.
During Veterans Day, we honor those who have served. But Memorial Day is even more special; it honors those who have fallen while standing in harm’s way. They have given “the last full measure of devotion,” as Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address. Our nation’s defenders have laid down their lives in sacrifice for our liberty and freedom. Many of them served not only to defend the Constitution but also to protect their loved ones and their buddies beside them. And yet, whatever their reasons, all of them served a cause greater than themselves.
The sacrifices our military men and women have made should also remind us of the ultimate sacrifice—Jesus Christ, who willingly laid down His life to atone for the sins of the world. While it is fitting and right that we honor those who have fallen to defend our liberty and freedoms, first and foremost, we must reflect on what the Lord gave up so that we could be saved and inherit eternal life.
The Ultimate Challenge
For those of us who remain behind to honor their service, we should live as they did and serve in ways that honor their memory. As the captain in the movie Saving Private Ryan challenged us to ask ourselves, “Am I living in such a way as to justify the sacrifice that was made on my behalf?”
Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice by dying on the cross for our sins. When you place your faith and trust in Jesus, your sins will be forgiven, and you will inherit eternal life. The ultimate soldier—King Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—laid down his life so we could be saved. If you have not yet done so, reach out to Jesus today. May this week become your own personal Memorial Day, when you look back and remember, “Today was the day I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and King.”
