Part Three: The Cure For The Human Heart

Tragically, the Beatles had all the right questions, but had no eternal answers for those concerns—concerns that were intrinsically eternal. Their experiences, however, though lived out on a much more public stage than most of us, were not at all unique. Men and women have continually lived in the desperate search for something more, something else. In fact, their pilgrimage compares closely to someone else who lived his frustrations in a very exposed way—ancient Israel’s King Solomon. Solomon describes his journey, and its failed attempts to find meaning and purpose, which so closely parallels that of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, in Ecclesiastes 1-2:

• Attempt #1: Success. As the Beatles eventually learned, there are times when success is more of a burden than a blessing. Their screaming fans, once a source of satisfaction, became a reminder that no one was even listening to the music they were performing. It seemed pointless, a fact Solomon also understood, using the word vanity, which meant “emptiness”: “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? (Ecc.1:2-3)

• Attempt #2: Wealth, pleasure. From their early days in the cavern to their trips to Hamburg, a path was set that seemed intent on reaping the harvest of acclaim. This meant money (as we have already seen), but it meant more—women were readily available, and almost always willing. Solomon was the wealthiest man of his day, and even had 1000 wives and concubines at his disposal to meet his physical needs. His solemn evaluation of the wealth and pleasure he enjoyed? I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. (Ecc.2:1)

• Attempt #3: Drugs. As an escape from the harshness of life, as well as an attempt to discover things unseen, the Beatles, like so many of their day, began with marijuana and escalated to LSD. Later in his life, Lennon was reputed to have become addicted to heroin. Still, there was no relief, a disappointment that Solomon found when he pursued alcohol with the same vigor. He said: I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. (Ecc.2:3)

• Attempt #4: Wisdom. The pursuit of eastern mysticism by George Harrison was more than a response to the failings of the heart. It was a desire to find some framework within which life could be processed and understood. Following the death of their friend and manager, Brian Epstein, they began looking for answers—as did Solomon in the dark shadows of his own frustrations. Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! (Ecc.2:15-16)

Still, after all of that there was an emptiness. The (so-called) White Album (1968) culminates that unfulfilled search with the song “I’m So Tired,” in which John Lennon cries, “I’d give you everything I’ve got for a little peace of mind.” Solomon would have agreed. He concluded his searchings and longings by an even stronger declaration in Ecclesiastes 2:17, when he proclaimed:

So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind. (Ecc.2:17)

At the end of the day, like Solomon, the Beatles had asked all the right questions, but arrived at all the wrong conclusions. Each of the heart concerns they expressed in their music ultimately find their resolution in the Jesus that John Lennon so deeply admired but so sadly misunderstood…

The Cry—For Love
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

The Need—Peace
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. (John 14:27)

The Offer—Wholeness
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

The Answer—Christ
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

Years later, according to Steve Turner, John Lennon reached out for Jesus Christ. Did he ever believe? We will never know in this life with certainty. One thing, however, is certain. He was at last reaching in the right direction.