A few years ago a beautiful plump green caterpillar crawled up the wall near our front door. I placed it in a quart jar along with a small leafy branch from a hibiscus plant. Within an hour he began to spin a cocoon and soon completely incased himself. I gave him to our two youngest grandchildren so they could learn from the experience. They watched it daily. I kept tabs on the progress and had begun to wonder if anything was going to happen. After all, I didn’t know for sure what was going to emerge from the cocoon. I strongly suspected it to be a moth from what I had learned from an internet search. I was talking to our son on the phone one evening and all of a sudden I heard him say, “Wow”. A beautiful moth with a 5 inch wingspan had emerged from the cocoon! I could hear the grand kids laughing and talking in the background. What a neat experience. Presto, the caterpillar had transformed into a moth! He hadn’t really died, but just changed form.
I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s writings in I Corinthians the 15th chapter where he declares the gospel by discussing the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He writes that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Paul says a change must take place. The mortal must put on immortality. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Cor. 15:57 (NKJV)