Yesterday, I met Stephen and Roxanne at a hotel. They needed help as they entered one of the most difficult days any parent could envision. Matt, a graduate student at the University of Virginia and member of our church community, died in a freakish bike collision. This should never happen. A father should never bury a son. A mother should never have to dig through her dead boy’s lonely apartment. There is so much to celebrate in Matt’s good life (his deep heart, for instance—his last hours were spent serving in a homeless shelter). There is much to curse, however, about his passing. Death is a menacing villain.
The prophet Isaiah wrote to his people in anticipation of their Babylonian captivity. Isaiah spoke with language that cast God as the powerful, conquering God—strong enough and bold enough to take on every enemy the besieged people faced. God was the One who would “turn mighty cities into heaps of ruin” and who would “silence the roar” of violent armies afflicting them (Isaiah 25:2,5).
The ultimate enemy our conquering God would crush, however, would be death itself. Death is our wretched foe—our enemy and, thankfully, God’s enemy. In Jesus, God has defeated death, showing that He is Lord over all—even over death (1 Corinthians 15:54).
Melito of Sardis, a church father from the third century, powerfully captured this truth as he wrote:
When the Lord had clothed Himself with humanity, and had suffered for the sake of the sufferer, and had been bound for the sake of the imprisoned, and had been judged for the sake of the condemned, and buried for the sake of the one who was buried, He rose up from the dead, and cried with a loud voice: Who is he who contends with Me?
More:
How does 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 describe Jesus’ victory?
Next:
Where have you experienced death as an enemy? What does it mean for you to acknowledge Jesus as victor over death?
lindagma on February 18, 2011 at 7:53 am
Death of a child is one of the most difficult things to deal with and the hardest to explain to unsaved friends. They don’t understand the strength and comfort we get from the Father. We have the hope of heaven and the promise we will see them again in a world where there is no trouble and pain.
eppistle on February 18, 2011 at 9:48 am
I can hardly imagine the sorrow of having to bury a child. As Christians we grieve not as those who have no hope (I Thessalonians 4:13). Nevertheless we do grieve. And the grief is very real. We don’t necessarily have to provide all the answers to those who grieve. Those who mourn need somebody who will mourn with them (Romans 12:15). Sometimes this is better done silently than when we open our mouths (see the book of Job).
sowharvest on February 18, 2011 at 10:29 am
Truly nothing is as heartbreaking as the death of a child. Yet thanks be to GOD that they had him for his lfetime & experienced joyous memories that death cannot defeat. Having recently experienced death of my nephew(only 13) there are no words that I could give to His parents (or these) except–“trust in the Lord with all your heart & lean not to [our ] own understanding…….” Prov 3:5. May GOD comfort
tom felten on February 18, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Just experienced the death of a friend. Her husband wrote that Jesus had taken her “to her new room.” What a great way to express the fact that when we (believers in Jesus) die, our life goes on in a place prepared by God for us! My friend’s faith never faltered as she lived out her final days. I’m reminded of Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 4:7-8. She finished the race beautifully.
daisymarygoldr on February 18, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Death is no respecter of person or age. And no parent wants their child to precede them in death. It is sad…
When I was growing up, I remember this boy from my Sunday school class. He was so reserved that we had never heard him speak. After several years he had stopped coming to church. One day he surprised me at the hospital. Actually he had to introduce himself because I could not recognize or even believe this young man was that same dumb boy. I was there to get some meds for my Grandmother. He had offered help and I had politely turned him down. In that country it was not socially acceptable for girls to interact with the opposite gender. He had continued to chat but I did not take in a single word except when He had said “Bye”. The next time I met him—he was a tangled mass of blood lying all covered up in a coffin. He had been chased by some people for having sex with young girls and it ended in a tragic motorbike accident. The real tragedy was—no one, not even his parents knew if he had accepted Christ. The elder who had conducted the funeral had no words of assurance.
To this day, whenever I think of that death, I struggle with a lot of guilt and what ifs…what if I had used that opportunity to talk to him about salvation? I really do not know how to deal with the loss of someone who had died without Christ.
For those of us who are in Christ, we will never die. Jesus referred to death as sleep. All who have fallen asleep in Christ will be raised to life on the last day when the Messiah comes back again. Blessed are those who share in this first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power. Rev 20:6
mike wittmer on February 21, 2011 at 8:43 am
Winn:
This is a great reminder of the awfulness of death. It is difficult to get this tension right–death is terrible and our victory in Christ is unbelievably wonderful. Too many Christians think they are emphasizing Christ’s victory when they are really minimizing death. Both are real and powerful, but thankfully Christ is more!
winn collier on February 21, 2011 at 8:51 am
Christ is more – those are the words of hope that wrestle with the reality as it is – and then give way to the reality as it will one day be.