The coming zombie apocalypse

In recent years American culture has developed a fascination with zombies. Although the subject of zombies has been found in literature, film and television for many decades, the interest has reached a new level.

One of the most-watched cable TV series in the last few years has been The Walking Dead about a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. And a new phenomenon called “zombie walks” has appeared in which people walk through a city dressed up as zombies for various reasons.

In 2011 the U.S. government officially capitalized on the zombie craze when the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created a blog post called “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.”

The post uses a fictional example of an assault on civilization by zombies as a tongue-in-cheek way to teach people how to prepare for a variety of real natural disasters.

Although this zombie fad is mostly for entertainment purposes, I wonder if its popularity can be at least partly explained by our culture’s fixation with death. This Sunday Christians will celebrate Easter, which makes a poignant statement concerning death.

Not only did Jesus rise from the dead after being crucified on a cross, but also he conquered death itself and opened the way to eternal life for all who believe in him.

As a testimony to the power of his death and resurrection, the Bible describes a zombie-like event where upon Jesus’ death “The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into Jerusalem and appeared to many people.”

This was a preview of a future “apocalypse,” which though the word often denotes a cataclysmic disaster, literally means an unveiling.

Jesus himself explained this event: “For a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear my voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to life, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

Those who rise to life will not be the grotesque zombies of decayed human flesh portrayed in Hollywood movies.

Using the metaphor of a seed being planted in the ground that later emerges to new life, the apostle Paul describes the resurrection body in this way: “The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”

He then concluded: “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’”

As we celebrate Easter this Sunday, we do so with the hope of a resurrection unto eternal life with transformed bodies that will not be subject to sickness, pain, decay or death.

To this we can shout, “Hallelujah!”