Should We Fear Death?

The fear of death and dying is quite common.  The way people approach death varies from one person to another. While some fear is healthy because it makes us more cautious, some people may also have an unhealthy fear of dying.  This explains why we go to such extreme lengths to delay death.  We are obsessed with our health.  Christians are no different.  We spend thousands of dollars on diet plans, vitamins, gym memberships and countless visits to the doctors.  All in the name of “good health”.    Our prayer requests reflect that truth about us and I’m not much different.  We fear death.  Christians and non Christians alike.  When you lose someone or something dear to you, it's natural to feel pain and grief. The grief process is normal, and most people go through it. It’s part of our human nature.  And when the inevitable does happen, and death takes a loved one away from us, we often respond immediately with anger. 

Years ago, churches were built with cemeteries on the property.  People were reminded of death every Sunday as they arrived for worship.  It isn't until recent times that we can confidently enjoy a longer life expectancy.  A hundred years ago, nearly 50% of all children died before reaching adulthood.  Family members were cared for in the home and when death arrived, the services were held there in the home as well.  My husband's grandmother recalled the Spanish flew epidemic that swept through her home country of Norway.  The church bells were run to announce each death.  The sound of bells was so often, the bell ringer remained in place at the church.  Today, Covid has claimed the lives of people across the globe.  Few families have escaped untouched by this modern pandemic.  

Jesus was familiar with death.  Except, He called death, “sleep”.  In the Gospel of John chapter 11, Jesus raises a dear friend named Lazaarus from the dead.  Jesus tells us Lazarus has fallen asleep” and Jesus wants to wake him up.

Jesus knows his friends fear death.  They see death as the ultimate winner.  It’s why the disciples didn’t want to go back to Judea, where the religious leaders tried to stone Christ.  Jesus views death differently.  He sees it as sleep.  We don’t fear sleep do we?  I actually welcome it. 

But doubting Thomas doesn’t buy it.  In verse 16 he says, “We might as well go and die with him”. We aren’t any different than Thomas.  We are often tempted to believe only the facts.  We believe when the conclusion has been established.  I can’t help but wonder how often our need for logic, for science gets in the way of seeing something so beautiful and miraculous from God?

Both Mary and Martha knew Jesus could have saved their brother from dying.  They saw Christ’s earlier miracles.  But Jesus in verse 23 tells the sisters “their brother will rise again”.  They know the grave is not the end for Lazarus.  Mary and Martha however were so focused on the event of resurrection happening in the distant future, that they still had not completely put their hope in the person of Jesus being the resurrection and the life. 

We see how Jesus in his humanity responded to his friend’s death.  He wept. Romans 12:15 says we are “to weep with those who weep”.  We are called to join in with another’s suffering, but we don’t really see this happening much today.  I spent 15 years working in busy emergency rooms and ultimately working as a nurse practitioner in long term care facilities.  I saw my fair share of death and dying.  I wish we responded more like Christ when another person is grieving or facing death themselves.  Instead, we worry more about how uncomfortable we feel that we often neglect those who need us the most.  I too experienced that myself.  Alone in a hospital room.  Recovering alone at home for weeks and months on end.  It was difficult to say the least.  When my mother died, 18 years ago next month, I too was angry at first.  I believe Jesus was angry there in the company of Mary and Marth and the friends of Lazarus.  Why?  Because death reminded Jesus of his mission. 

We all deserve death.  We all have inherited the sins of Adam and Eve.  When they disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge and good and evil, God’s sentence was death.  He told them ahead of time what would happen if they disobeyed his law.  Sure enough, we all have paid the price for their sin.  Death is what we all deserve.  Romans 6:23 says the price for sin is death. 

Up to this point in our story of the Bible, death always won.  But soon Jesus would gets the last word and Jesus would conquer death.  The raising of Lazarus from the dead assures us the power Jesus has over death before he goes to the cross to die.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.  Jesus called himself the “resurrection and the life’ for all those who believe.  Even after Martha verified her faith, she still wasn’t 100% in.  As the stone was about to be rolled away from Lazarus’s tomb, Martha was concerned about the decaying stench of her brother’s flesh.  Jesus responds in v. 40, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God”? 

If only we would stand in awe of such love and power that Jesus demonstrated for Lazarus and his family.  If only we would not fear death more than the number of times we fall to our knees to glorify the one who has conquered death.  If only we would worry more about how God sees us rather than what others think of us.  The religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus because it benefited them.  They cared more about protecting their reputations that they justified themselves to commit murder.  What the chief priest Caiaphas didn’t know, was God already knew their intentions.  Caiaphas would use Christ’s death for evil, but God had already ordained Christ’s death.  The death of Jesus was no accidental tragedy.  Christ died to fulfill God’s plan of redemption.  The penalty for sin is death. This was the judgement God gave Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they had disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge of life and death.  Romans 6:23 says the “wages of sin is death”.  Jesus would die, but he would die for us all.  Jesus would eventually fulfill his role as the Lamb of God, the final sacrifice offered for sin.  Jesus would pay sin’s debt once and for all, for God’s children, for those who choose to believe that Jesus is the life and the resurrection. 

The death of Christ would gather all His sheep into one-fold, into one flock.  Gentile and Jew would come together to follow one shepherd, the Good Shepherd.  Jesus may have been angry at death and the separation it caused between God and his flock, but Christ’s death would remedy that.  Jesus already proved he had victory over death with Lazarus.  But it would be Christ’s own death that we celebrate and it is through Christ’s death and resurrection that we can claim victory over death ourselves.  Death is the ultimate enemy of God.  It was the enemy Christ would face and it is the enemy Christ would conquer on the cross.  Death is the reason Jesus wept with Mary and Martha.  Death was the means by which God was glorified through both the resurrections of Lazarus and ultimately Jesus. 

Our story of Lazarus raising from the dead is a picture of what Jesus had done for you and for me.  Before we knew Jesus as our Savior, we were all dead in our trespasses and sins according to Ephesians 2:1.  But Jesus is the One who is the resurrection and the life.  Jesus is the one who has power over life and death.  Jesus is the One who calls us from spiritual death and makes us alive, together with Him for all eternity. 

We don’t need to fear death anymore.  We need to be on our knees in humble gratitude for the gift of our salvation.  When is the last time you got on your knees and glorified God for the gift of eternal life?  It may be my fight, but it is for God’s glory!