The Fear of Death

Every once in a while when you're reading one of the Gospels, you find Jesus saying something that just stops you in your tracks and makes you say, 'What?!?' That's what happened to a bunch of men in the middle of a conversation with Jesus. When He said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death', they responded with, 'What?!?' Or to be more precise, they said, 'Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?' What Jesus said made absolutely no sense to them. And can you blame them? Isn't it obvious that we're all going to die?

But Jesus intended to make sense. So, the obvious question is, ‘What's He talking about?’ We could go with the response of those men. Jesus is talking about physically dying - which is why they thought He was possessed. I think that we can agree that that's not a good idea. So, are there other options? One goes something like this. People in the Bible sometimes use 'God talk'. It's not supposed to make any real sense. It's just supposed to make you feel better. That's all Jesus is trying to do. It's 'God talk' for a rainy day. 'God talk' is nice, but, let's face it, it just doesn't work in the real world.

There is another option, and I think this one works. Jesus is talking about eternal life. Let me remind you that eternal life is not about 'how long'. It's about 'what kind'. It's about experiencing the life of God. And at the heart of that is intimacy, intimacy with God. So, when the Spirit gives someone this life of God, that person has passed from death to life. That's how Jesus described it earlier in John. And while his heart will stop beating on some particular day, that believer will not die. He will continue to experience the life of God. That's what Jesus is talking about. Eternal life never stops but continues. And thus, Jesus can say, 'if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death'.

Now, that's an accurate understanding of Jesus' words, but there's a problem. To a lot of folk, it doesn't satisfy. And I'll tell you why. Too many hear it as if it were just some more 'God talk'. It might make us feel good, but when it comes to life in the real world, it just doesn't work. It isn't at all clear how it makes any difference when it comes to real, day-to-day living. So, they'll read the words, but emotionally they just ignore them. 'There's nothing here that deals with real life in the here and now.'

But, Jesus doesn't do 'God talk'. Whenever Jesus speaks He's talking about the stuff of real, day-to-day living. So, let's go back to how those men understood Jesus' comment. 'Jesus is talking about physical death, and what He says is crazy.' They missed what Jesus was talking about. They got it wrong. And yet, Jesus' claim has lots to say about physical death. And that's something that they should have gotten. What Jesus says here can help you deal with real, day-to-day living. It can help you deal with your own, very real and very physical death.

So, consider this from Hebrews.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Jesus has come to deal with slavery. Jesus has come to free you from your slavery, to free you from yourself, and that includes freeing you from your fear of death. How does He do that? He gives you eternal life, the life of God. He gives you intimacy with the Father, and that makes a huge difference as you deal with real world problems. So, instead of loneliness there is relationship - deep, real, intimate relationship with the Father. Here is one effect of gaining this intimacy: death, physical death, your death, is no longer a big deal.

I read some Calvin this week. Here's something he wrote.

… when faith quickens the soul of a man, death already has its sting extracted and its venom removed, and so it cannot inflict a deadly wound.

Or to say that more plainly, now that you are a Christian, now that you have the life of God, your death is no longer a big deal.

Listen to what someone else wrote.

My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die.

That's Paul. I don't quote him because he was an apostle nor because what he wrote is Scripture. I quote him because he's a good example of someone for whom death is no longer a big deal. He wrote that from jail. There was the distinct possibility that he would be executed. He might die. So, what is he thinking about? Is he afraid of death? No. 'Bring it on! If I die, great! If I live, great! The only thing that matters is that I get to make Jesus look as good as He really is.' That's what he meant by those words he wrote. Read them again. Was it hype - you know, more 'God talk' - or was it real? Is it possible that a person could have that kind of attitude about his death? Well, if he's a Christian, why not?

That's one piece to this puzzle. Physical death for a Christian is no longer a big deal. Now consider something else Paul wrote.

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. Now if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean productive work for me, yet I don’t know which I prefer: I feel torn between the two, because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more vital for your sake that I remain in the body.

Paul was looking forward to dying. It was gain for him. How could dying be gain? Well, when he dies he finally gets to leave this place and see Jesus face-to-face. And that was something he really wanted. It would be 'better by far' than staying here. So, for Paul, death is the opportunity to finally see Jesus. And for Paul, or any Christian, that is gain, tremendous gain.

So, two pieces of the puzzle: Because of the life of God within, death is no longer a big deal for a Christian. In fact, it results in something tremendous: being with Jesus. So, there is nothing to fear and everything to look forward to.

It's at this point that this sort of response pops up. 'Hey, I'm fine with being dead and being in heaven, seeing Jesus and all of that. It's the process of dying that I'm not too keen about. What if I get some painful cancer that results in a long drawn out dying? Or Alzheimer’s? Or some other terrible disease? That doesn't sound like fun.' And truth be told, it's not. But what Paul wrote answers those questions. There were two things that were so key to him, and I'm not sure which comes first. For Paul, life was about one thing: making Jesus look good. That's what he was getting at when he wrote about Christ being exalted in his body. So, read about what he dealt with to make Jesus look good. Start with 2 Corinthians 11. That's where he describes how many times he was whipped and beaten and about being shipwrecked during his missionary travels and all of that. He had a hard life. But do you ever hear him complaining? Living was all about making Jesus look good, and there were times when that was just hard - and Paul was okay with that. The other motivation for Paul's life was simply this: he loved Jesus. Paul didn't love a doctrine or a set of beliefs. He loved a person. And because of that, his greatest desire was simply to be with that person. Isn't that the obvious desire of a lover - to be with the beloved? And the way for that to happen was for Paul to die.

So, imagine asking Paul about the manner of his death: 'Paul, how would you like to die?' What he would say is obvious: 'In whatever way that makes Jesus look good. Cancer? Fine. Alzheimer’s? Good. Execution? Sure. If dying in any of those ways makes Jesus look good, I'm all for it. And as a bonus I get to see Jesus.' Paul's love for Jesus is what makes that kind of living - and dying - possible.

And that gets us back to what Jesus was talking about with those men: eternal life. If eternal life is all about experiencing the life of God, enjoying intimacy with the Father, then you already have all that you need to grow into the same attitude that Paul had. Because you have passed from death to life - because you will never die but continually experience intimacy with the Father - you can face the day of your death (and whatever leads up to it) without fear but rather with joy. Think about it. You get to make Jesus look good in how you die. And then, you get to see Him face to face. Does it ever get better than that?

But, of course, there is a part of you that still is afraid. And you think that living like Paul is reserved for the elite super-saints, not someone like you. And that, of course, is a lie, and you know where lies come from. The key to living like Paul is always the same. It's all about the Gospel. It's all about faith and repentance. Jesus says as much, when He talks to those men about keeping His word. And that's the same as abiding in His word which I told you about last week. It's all about believing the Gospel. As you work at believing the Gospel in that down-to-earth way that Jesus calls for, the Spirit will do His amazing work in you. He's going to bless your attempts at being faithful. And that blessing includes things like increasing your ability to believe some of those outlandish things of the Gospel, like not being afraid of dying. Your fears will be dealt with and that by the grace of the Holy Spirit. There will be those times when you will fail to believe. But the Spirit will point that out to you. That may sting, but it will be for your good. And the right response to that is always the same: repentance. That starts with honestly acknowledge your sin; no excuses, no minimizing. And the Spirit will see your repentance and respond with forgiveness and change. And back you go to working at being a faithful disciple of Jesus.

Is it a realistic expectation that as you work at believing the Gospel you will be able to gain the same kind of attitude that Paul had? Well, why not? The Holy Spirit who worked in Paul that love for Jesus is the same Holy Spirit who is at work in you. I actually think that you should expect that kind of change in your life. What our world needs so badly is lots of people who just aren't afraid of death. They have passed from death to life by faith in Jesus. And because of that they are fearless when it comes to all sorts of things. It is that kind of fearlessness that will show people the Gospel and make them ready to listen to it.