Death Leads to Life

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Death has come to our congregation once again. A dear man, a saint in his own right, has passed from life to death and people are sad. This is as it should be. Death is sad. Death is not an easy event to pass through for anyone. Sometimes a sense of relief accompanies death, but it’s not a time to celebrate. And it’s hard to know what to say to the family and friends. You hear all kinds of things that people say in an effort to soothe the grieving.

Jesus doesn’t offer pithy statements or sappy sentiments about being in a “better place” or looking down from “heaven.” In verse 23, Jesus simply says, “Your brother will rise again.” And then later, he offers the amazing, yet confusing statements in verse 25. The question comes to all of those who look death in the face. “Do you believe this?”

Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? For those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ, the Savior, He is not only the way to eternal life, he is the eternal life itself. He is not the reincarnation nor the resuscitation, he is the resurrection. He is not just someone who talked about life or offered a good path to living a good life, he is the life eternal. Life only exists in Jesus forever.

Death leads to life for those who believe in Jesus. Life is lived in anticipation of the inevitable. Death will come to each one of us, eventually. But, according to Jesus, death leads to life. It doesn’t just lead to a life of a disembodied soul which now is in heaven. It doesn’t lead to being turned into an angel and watching over your relatives. Those are Greek philosophies and Hollywood special effects. No, it’s none of that with Jesus. With Jesus, death leads to real life. Eternal life. Are the dead ones form our past now living? For those who believe in Jesus, they are. They are living, right now. And we are living, on this side of death, waiting to join the eternally living.

Death is not easy. It is not supposed to be. Death is the result of the sin that has so corrupted the world and all of us with it. But that sin is taken care of by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, the one who passed through death and into life. The first one to pass through death into life. In our baptism, we are eternally connected to the one who is the life and the resurrection, the life eternal, Jesus.

We say goodbye to the ones that have passed on. It is sad. But because of Jesus, we can honestly say, “We’ll see you soon.”

Father in Heaven, watch over the living and those who are on this side of death. With hope in your son Jesus, we await the day when all of the living and the dead will be reunited in the feast that never ends. In Jesus’ name, amen.