On Patriots’ Day the state of Massachusetts celebrates the bravery of a handful of American heroes who began fighting the enemies of freedom. At that time those enemies were the forces of King George III of England. That’s past history now, and England is no longer the source of tyranny for the United States.

Now Patriots’ Day will have another meaning—it will mean a commemoration of the deaths of three people and more than 170 other casualties at the hands of a criminal or criminals in an act of mass murder and mutilation. While authorities have yet to determine the names and motivation behind the bombers, it appears from earliest reports that it resembles a suicide bombing, similar to those that have adorned the headlines for the past thirteen years, and many years before that.

What does this mean to you and me? Should it only affect us if we are American? Should we look at this kind of tragedy with a self-righteous sniff and think, “Ah yes, what an evil world. Too bad.”

What will happen now?

As young people with a working knowledge of God, the Bible, and His way of life, we must have a different perspective. We know that this tragedy, ANY tragedy, is not final. We know that victims of crimes like these will live again.

How can that possibly be true? Isn’t death the end? Actually… no.

An ancient wise man asked the question this way, “If a man dies, shall he live again?”

This man, Job, had a good reason to ask that question. He was near death. All of his children had just been killed in a tragic, supernatural windstorm. His wealth and property had been raided, stolen, or destroyed. He went from a position of great authority and respect to become the object of disdain of his “friends.”

He answered his own question by finishing his statement, “If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes.” (Job 14:14)

Something more than this life alone

What change was he talking about? A change of mind? Plans?

So much more—this simple statement is a summary of the entire plan that God has for all humankind. It is a change from physical human life to spiritual existence, an eternal life in the family of God. This is the answer to tragedy.

No human life is left behind. The plan of the Eternal God is for a future for all those who have ever lived, who are now, and who will ever live. When a life is cut short by tragedy, God has not forgotten that person. There is a future ahead.

There is also God’s justice ahead for those that commit such acts. God makes clear His brand of justice in the book of Deuteronomy:

“Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.” (Deuteronomy 32:35)

God is ultimately fair and no one is needlessly lost in the immense scope of His plan for all humankind.