I stood in silence staring into the deep blue sea 150 feet below me at Banzai Cliff. Behind me was the sheer rock face of Mt. Marpi. Silence seemed the only response to what happened here on Saipan 80 years ago.
WWII came to Saipan with the American amphibious assault against the entrenched Japanese forces. To the Americans, control of the island would place Tokyo within range of B-29 bombers. The death toll was heavy for the Americans. The last Japanese soldiers died in suicide charges against American positions.
So, what happened to brand the serene landscape of Marpi Point with such grim notoriety? As the Americans pushed northward, thousands of Japanese soldiers and civilians, including mothers and children, leapt from the cliffs toward the jagged rocks or raging ocean. Suicide was their final choice, either because of coercion, national pride, or unfounded rumors about the Americans. Even as the haunted souls approached the cliffs, American soldiers shouted “Tomodachi” (friend) to no avail.
That sunny day, I marveled at the deep blue Pacific and felt the sea breeze on my face. I witnessed the monuments erected to commemorate the lives lost and to appeal for abiding peace among the nations. “Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness,” one inscription said. The history, the scene…it all invited contemplation of the meaning of life and death.
The people who died here had lost hope. Life and death became meaningless. The last thing they knew was war, no peace. It occurred to me that perhaps this was what Jesus’ disciples experienced after His violent death. They were afraid, defeated, huddled behind locked doors, wondering if the last three years had been meaningless. The words of the chief priests rang in their ears: “He saved others; He cannot save Himself” (Matt. 27:42). It was into that impossible, hopeless moment Jesus entered. He appeared alive to his disciples saying, “Peace be with you!”
When you suffer dread and confusion, Jesus brings focus. When you wander the haunted lands of memories, He is near. When all seems lost, His death resurrects your life with meaning, hope, and joy. He reconciled “all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross… He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-if indeed you continue in the faith” (Col. 1:20-23).
Death, whether yours or someone else’s, invites sober contemplation. Do you think of it as stepping through to light and eternal truth? Is it a final reckoning or meaningless oblivion? As you consider the alternatives, Someone calls out, “Friend!” To you personally Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). That is your Savior calling.