Death

(The Four Horsemen, from The Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer)

“Advent is not only a time of expectant looking forward. Among the themes that we are traditionally given for meditation during Advent are the ‘Four Last Things’ – death, judgement, hell and heaven. While these are not exactly cheering subjects, they are suitable Advent fare because they remind us that something of ultimate importance is at stake. The baby who is to be born is coming to change the world, and to offer it – and us – the choice between light and darkness, life and death.

The detail reproduced here comes from Dürer’s depiction of the Four Horsemen of Revelation 6. We read that a conqueror comes, riding a white horse, to be followed by a red horse, carrying War on its back, then a black horse, whose rider measures out famine on the earth. Then, finally, comes the pale horse, ridden by Death. Its very colour is indeterminate, unlike the others that Revelation describes. It is ‘greenish’ or ‘ashen’ or ‘colourless’, all giving the sense that it is sickly and lifeless, wiping out colour and vitality as it goes.

Whereas the other riders brandish their weapons in front of them, Death has a trident pointing behind him, signifying his rule over the abject things following behind him. Revelation calls this Hades, the place of shadows, where the dead exist, far from God, from life, from love, from hope. So sure is Death of his reign that he does not bother to look behind him. His form is emaciated with his bones showing through the decaying skin, and the speed of his horse makes his etiolated hair flee behind him, snarled up, unwashed, unbrushed.

The four riders move forward inexorably, looking neither right nor left, and certainly not down at what their horses are trampling underfoot. They are merciless, driven, perhaps because they know that their time is short.

Meditation on the fate of sinners, unbelievers and heretics was seen as an educational and improving device in Dürer’s day. It concentrated the mind on the lasting significance of daily habits and choices. But we tend to find these warnings distasteful, with their attempts to frighten people into goodness and to terrify people into believing in the love of God. There is something counterintuitive in this for those who have been taught by Jesus that ‘perfect love casts out fear’ (1 John 4.18).

But in Advent, perhaps Dürer can help us not to fear but to long for God. Conquest, war and famine are an ever present reality for many in our world, and death is an inevitability for all. We are waiting for the birth of God’s great saviour, but he will come as a powerless child, and will die at the hands of unjust forces. We need something deeper than optimism – we need hope. As Dürer’s deathly horseman speeds on, he is not as powerful as he looks. He is driven by the knowledge of the scene against which Revelation 6 sits. The Lamb is gradually breaking the seals on the great scroll, and soon will come the time when the seventh seal is broken and a great and calm silence falls upon the heavens and the earth. So the pale horse and his rider have not got long; they are the ones who should be fearful, not us. 

Perhaps the deathly rider should look back after all. In Advent, we are preparing for the coming of the one who will break death and force it to be life-giving. From where we stand, we can see Jesus harrowing hell, bringing out all those captive in the shadowlands, so that they no longer follow that imperious trident, but walk beside the saviour into freedom.

Advent is a space between two worlds. The one Dürer depicts is fearful and full of terrible power, but it is not eternal. Its meaning can and will be changed as God’s new world, which is also the oldest, the original world, begins to invade. There are no armed horsemen riding to conquer, only a child, arriving like the slow, inexorable coming of the dawn. The horsemen would not even recognize God’s weaponry, it is so different from their own, and that will be their downfall.

Lord, we pray that you will come in judgement on a world of famine, war and death, and sow the seeds of your kingdom of peace and joy, through the mighty and tender power of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”

~Jane Williams