The subject of one's own future death, or even of a loved one's recent passing, is difficult for a lot of people to talk about. After expressing sympathies at a funeral, the talk usually turns to something more lighthearted, like the weather or sports. Perhaps people do not want to say something insensitive; or more likely, they are just uncomfortable because death is uncomfortable.
The only time I have seen a dead body outside the comfort of a funeral home or church building is when my grandfather passed away in a hospital. My sister and I entered the room after receiving the tearful phone call from our mother. After looking at him for a couple of seconds, I had to turn away. Death indeed has a stinging effect. It is from this experience that I am grateful to funeral directors who have the abilities to make things less jolting for the living.
As faithful Christians, we know that death will result in a deliverance to a place far better (Philippians 1:23). But the ugliness of death remains. Indeed, we are to think of death as an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), because it is the consequence of sin's entrance into the world (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12). Thus, the only way one could be delivered from this body of death is through Jesus Christ (Romans 7:24,25), who, "... by the grace of God, [tasted] death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9b, NKJV). Therefore, Jesus had to experience death so that we could be justified from our sins (Acts 13:38,39).
When we usually think about the death of Jesus, we are quick to also note his resurrection. His resurrection is certainly paramount, as without it, we would have no hope of being justified before God. But the death of Jesus was just as necessary because a penalty had to be paid for our sins. The Holy Spirit, through the pen of Paul, put it succinctly like this: "...who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification" (Romans 4:25). I believe the ugliness of death helps us to appreciate the ugliness of sin. Two men got to experience the gruesome death of Jesus up close: Jospeh of Arimathea and Nicodemus. The Scriptures tell us they took his body off the cross (Mark 15:46; John 19:40). What must it have been like to try to carefully remove Jesus' body while prying away the nails from his hands and feet, and the bloody thorns from his head and hair? How physically and emotionally taxing would it have been to hold and let down the dead weight, and then to carry him to a tomb? How uncomfortable was it to wrap and anoint his bruised body with spices before sealing it away with a large stone? "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This is why we love Jesus: "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... We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:10,19). This is also why we can face our enemy, death, with courage and hope. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3).
Brotherly, Jamie
