Memorial Day calls us to honor the brave men and women who have died fighting for our country. Today, let us glorify God by reflecting on Memorial Day’s origins, remembering the reality of death, and turning to the One who sacrificed it all by dying for our sins—only to rise again and promise us eternal life.

The First Memorial Day

In 1866, Mary Ann Williams was living in Columbus, Georgia, where the Civil War’s last major military engagement took place. She was frustrated that her city’s cemetery, which honored the war’s fallen, was constantly in disrepair. Mary Ann was so bothered that she sent an open letter to newspapers across the South imploring women to decorate and honor the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers.

Contrary to popular belief, Mary Ann’s inaugural Memorial Day on April 26, 1866, intentionally honored both the Confederate and the Union dead. Numerous newspapers celebrated Mary Ann and her team of ladies for exemplifying the “unselfish love of the female character.”¹ Quickly, the practice of flowering fallen soldier’s graves spread to the North.² Mary Ann and her ladies were later immortalized in a poem by Francis Miles Finch, in which she writes: “They banish our anger forever when they laurel the graves of our dead”—implying that these women’s actions were cathartic, healing the hatred between brothers that defined the Civil War.³

Remembering Christ on Memorial Day

Nearly two thousand years before Mary Ann ever thought to decorate a grave, two different Marys and a team of ladies (Mark 16:1) were similarly pained by the loss of a loved one and decided to visit that man’s grave. They didn’t bring flowers, but they did bring fragrant oils to anoint His body.

Like Mary Ann, Mary Magdalene and Mary (the mother of James) had witnessed gratuitous violence borne of senseless fear, hatred, and greed for power. Like Mary Ann, these Marys and their team exemplified—in their own historical and cultural context—“the unselfish love of the female character.” But they weren’t honoring just any men; they were honoring the God-Man, the One who fought His own battle against death and sin. For a time, it seemed as if death had won. But just three days later, He rose victoriously from the grave, granting life to those who call upon Him. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus “[laid] down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

Though the efforts of fallen American soldiers are admirable and have affected great change for the world, only Jesus Christ can grant a freedom that transcends this world. Only Jesus can grant His people freedom from death itself. As Paul says to Timothy, “ our Savior Christ Jesus . . . has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).

So as we commemorate the soldiers who gave their lives to secure our earthly freedom, let us remember Jesus, who secured our freedom from death by laying down His own life, only to take it up again three days later when He rose from the grave (John 10:17–18). Having been exalted by the Father (Philippians 2:9–11), Jesus now promises eternal life to all who trust in Him (John 10:28)—a life that the troubles of empire, violence, and war can never spoil.

A Prayer for Memorial Day

Jesus,

We long for the day when you return to eliminate pain and suffering (Revelation 21:4); when nations no longer rage (Psalm 2:1); when war is a distant memory (Isaiah 2:4); when swords are turned into plows (Micah 4:3); when you raise your people from their graves and destroy death itself (1 Corinthians 15:26). Come, Lord Jesus.

Amen.

Notes

1. Daily Eastern Argus, cited in Gardiner, Jones, and Bellware, “Emergence and Evolution,” 27.

2. Gardiner, et al., “The Emergence and Evolution of Memorial Day,” 23–28.

3. Finch, “The Blue and the Gray,” cited in Gardiner, Jones, and Bellware, “Emergence and Evolution,” 28.

Author Bio:

CJ Gossage is an Editorial Manager for The Daily Grace Co.® He enjoys reading, good food, and spending time outside with his wife and three children.

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