Remembering 9/11: Reflections on Faith, History, and Jesus

Photo by Aidan Bartos on Unsplash

Yesterday marked the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States. This was a defining event in my life. Every generation has that moment when they remember exactly where they were: JFK’s assassination, MLK Jr.’s assassination, the moon landing (if you believe it actually happened).

For my generation, 9/11 was that moment. I was in 9th grade in Mr. Jackson’s Earth and Environmental Science class at South Brunswick High School in Boiling Spring Lake, NC. I didn’t hear about it until after class, but that is where I was when it happened.

I remember the rest of the school day buzzing with conversation. Even though school didn’t dismiss early, nothing else really happened that day. I went home and watched the news, and for the first time, I was truly absorbed in a major world event. I vaguely remember the attack in Iraq a year or so earlier, but it didn’t grip me the way this did.

Fast forward to my freshman year of college: my roommate was from Northern Virginia, and he talked about how school had been canceled because of the Pentagon crash. He said they could feel the impact at their school. It felt like an earthquake.

This is more than just a memory. More than a recounting of a major event. The reality is that 9/11 changed the world. It changed the way we travel. It changed the course of many countries as we embarked on a War on Terror. It even briefly changed how we related to one another.

These attacks were especially significant because they happened on U.S. soil. Something of this magnitude had never happened before. People were fascinated with Iraq; my college even offered a history class called “Modern Iraq.”

But more importantly, 9/11 changed lives. Thousands of families lost loved ones that day. People were killed for no reason other than the perpetrators could do it. Our hearts, condolences, and prayers still go out to the victims’ families in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. And of course those who gave the ultimate sacrifice fighting in the subsequent battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It reminds me of major events in the Bible: the Garden of Eden, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the Passover, the giving of the Ten Commandments, Jericho’s walls falling, David’s encounter with Goliath, Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal, the coming of Jesus, the crucifixion of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and more.

The Bible highlights events that shape history and impact lives. The greatest of these was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, was buried in a tomb, and on the third day, He rose again!

This was an extraordinary event, remembered for centuries. Matthew 28:11-15 recounts:

"While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”

This passage recounts the guards’ story about the tomb. The preceding verses describe how the tomb was secured, an earthquake occurred, angels descended, and Jesus rose from the dead. The guards ran and told the Jewish leaders everything and were paid to keep quiet.

How often do we encounter Jesus but remain silent because of fear: fear of being labeled intolerant, fear of judgment from bosses or leaders, fear of friends, or fear of critics online?

The reality is that this event, like 9/11, really happened. It impacted thousands, millions, even billions of people. It changed the world. The question is: do we treat it as just another historical event, or as one that reshaped the trajectory of the world? One that should be spoken of openly, at all times, in every place?

9/11 was a defining moment in our nation’s history. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was a defining moment in history: cosmic history, eternal history. His story of love, grace, sacrifice, and victory parallels the heroism of those who responded on 9/11, yet it surpasses it.

How will you choose to remember it? As a simple, historical event or as something that literally and figuratively shook the world?

Anyway, I was just thinking…