COVID-19 hits at the core of the curse of the Fall, and it hits at the core of the human condition. That’s because unlike any other disease, the sick not only face death, but they are immediately put into quarantine and isolated from others.
Most people will admit that there’s some fear of dying from COVID-19, but dying in isolation from the virus is even more terrifying as the experience is completely different from having cancer or any other disease. Patients are not in the hospital room surrounded by family members or loved ones. Instead, they may be surrounded by medical professionals who have to be in protective gear, shielding themselves so that they don’t contract the disease. This isolation is what a lot of people, especially those who don’t have Christ, are fearing.
While we see the amplification of the curse through COVID-19, the situation also reveals our greatest hope. We as Christ-followers have the saving message of the Gospel. We know that Jesus was completely abandoned on the cross. He was abandoned by his friends and his Father turned away temporarily. Jesus bore that grief and isolation, and in doing so, he defeated disease and death completely.
The only way to remove the fear of death and isolation is to remember that we will never be abandoned in the same way Jesus was. Colossians 3:3 talks about how we have that hidden life of Christ: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God”. Even though we might not feel that physical security and safety, we can be confident knowing that we are created for eternal fellowship with the triune God.
God doesn’t usually remove his people from the world’s calamities. In the Old Testament, he allows them to go through suffering but he stays connected with them through the prophets. We find the same thing in the New Testament, as during times of persecution, God doesn’t remove his people out of the world. Instead, he tells them that he is with them through the Spirit. Through the Scriptures, we see that God is always with us, and so we can be free from our fears.
This is a season where pastors (myself included) don’t have all the answers. But we need to learn and remind ourselves to go deep into God’s Word so that we grow in our union with Christ and strengthen our hope in him. It’s the cross and the Gospel that really gives us the freedom from the two things we fear the most — death and isolation — because we will never be separated from Him.