Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
What Happens When A Persons Dies?
Why We Don’t Fear Death
Hebrews 2:14-15
Fear is a natural response to death. It was then. It is now.
Those first Christians had every reason to be afraid on that first Easter morning. It had started very early Friday morning. Armed guards arrested Jesus and hauled him off before a kangaroo court. Who would be next? Before sunrise, he had been beaten, abused, tried and sentenced. By nine o’clock, rough Roman soldiers were nailing him to a cross. His disciples couldn’t believe their eyes.
For six long hours they stood in horror and watched. The grief was off the charts. Fear was close behind. If this could happen to Jesus, what would happen to them. At three o’clock, Jesus proclaimed, “It is finished.” He was dead. They were afraid.
His friends claimed his body and hurriedly placed it in a borrowed tomb. Because of the Jewish Sabbath, they didn’t have the time to provide a proper burial. They would come back and take care of that later. They stood at the grave side and wept in fear.
We’ve all been there, done that. Graves are scary places. We stand there holding back the tears and all the time asking ourselves, “What next? Where do we go now? What will life be like without him.” The disciples felt all of that and more!
The disciples weren’t the only ones afraid. The authorities, so bold and arrogant, in the hours before were still fearful that they weren’t done with Jesus. They rolled a large stone over the tomb and sealed it tight. Sentries were posted to stand guard all night just in case. I can only imagine what went through those men’s minds that night. No one wants to spend a night in a grave yard. Not even battle-hardened soldiers.
They had reason to fear. Before the night was over, the God of heaven acted. The earth shook. The stone moved. A bright light flashed across the night sky. These terrestrial warriors were no match for the heavenly variety that appeared to herald the biggest news in the universe. Jesus would live again. Death was defeated!
All of this was still untold news when the women made their way to the tomb on Sunday morning. All they wanted to do was finish their unfinished business of burial. They approached in fear. What if they couldn’t get in? What if the soldiers wouldn’t move the stone for them? What if they wouldn’t even let them near? They needn’t have worried.
At the empty tomb, an angel announces, “Why do you look for the Lord among the dead? He is not here. He has arisen! Fear not!” Later that day, Jesus would repeat those same words, “Fear
not!” To his disciples still huddled in fear, Jesus announces his presence and declares the words we all want to hear in the face of death, “Fear not.”
That is the message of Easter. “Fear not.” If our Lord can conquer death, he can conquer any problem we will ever face. Once the fear of death is gone, we are set free to really live. That’s the message of our text (Hebrews 2:14). Jesus has set us free from the fear of death.
We do fear death. It is a natural part of life. None of us are immune from its bondage. Most of us know the Jungle Book from the Disney version. In Rudyard Kipling’s original, Mowgli, the small boy raised in the jungle, asks the animals what’s the most feared thing in the jungle. He’s told that when two animals meet on a narrow path that one must step aside and let the other pass. The animal that steps aside for no one would then be the most feared. Mowgli wants to know what kind of animal would that be? One tells him it’s an elephant. Another tells him it’s a lion. Finally the wise old owl exclaims, “The most feared thing in the jungle is death. It steps aside for no one.”
Most of would agree with actor and director Woody Allen who said, “I am not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
Remember the old story of the three guys at the coffee shop. They had been to a funeral of a friend. Their conversation turned to their own eventual funerals. One asked his friends, "What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?" One responded, "I’d like them to say—“He was a great humanitarian, who cared about his community." The friend who initiated the conversation replied, "I’d like them to say—“He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow.’" They nodded in agreement and looked to the third buddy who’d been silent. Without hesitation he concluded, "I’d like them to say –“Look, he’s moving!"
How can the message of Easter take away the fear of death? What is it about the good news that Christ offers that sets us free from the fear of death?
First, in Christ our sin is forgiven. The Bible makes it clear. Death is ultimately a spiritual matter not just a physical issue. Our creator did not make us to simply die. He made us for life and fellowship with him forever. But sin entered the picture. Ultimately life is all about living in a personal relationship with the God who made us. Sin is rejecting our maker and not wanting to walk in his ways. Physical death is a result of living in a world of sin and rebellion. And that’s why Jesus came.
This is the Good News of Easter Week. Jesus came to show us that God still loves us and wants us back. Jesus’ words and works show us God. He said he came to lay down his life as a ransom for men’s sins, to pay the price for our transgressions. The Bible says, “he died for our sins, was buried, and was raised from the dead just as the Scripture says.” Easter is about his death, burial and resurrection that proves the purpose of the cross.
Jesus put it this way, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who send me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (Jn 5:24). To believe the message of Jesus in your heart, to confess him as Lord with your lips, and commit your life to him in baptism transfers you from death to life. A person who has hope in Jesus Christ can have a totally different perspective about death. The future is no longer dark and unknown. We may not know everything about what’s beyond death and the grave. But we know this much—Jesus Christ has prepared a place for us. He never breaks his word.
That knowledge affects the way a person lives and the way he dies. I have stood at the bedside of dozens dying people. I have stood at scores and scores of gravesides and spoken those fateful words “dust to dust and ashes to ashes.” I can tell you from first hand experience--there is a difference between dying in fear and despair and dying in faith and hope. I have seen both.
This doesn’t mean we eagerly look forward to dying. That’s not true at all. It doesn’t mean we don’t mourn and hurt when a loved one dies. Of course not. God made us with the capacity to love and care. Of course it hurts when we lose a loved one. But we can, if we and our loved one is a follower of Jesus, mourn with hope. We know what’s ahead. We know that death has been defeated. That Jesus is coming. That we’re waiting for a reunion in heaven. That’s our Easter faith!
A boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon, when a bumblebee flew in the car window. The little boy, who was allergic to bee stings, was petrified.
The father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it.
The boy grew frantic as it buzzed by him. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his palm. There stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?" he asked. "You don’t need to be afraid anymore. I’ve taken the sting for you."
Because Jesus paid the price for our sin on the cross and then arose from the dead, Scripture announces, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:55-57).
Secondly, Christ frees us from the fear of death by assuring us that our life is secure in him. If he can conquer death, he can conquer anything we will ever face. Without Easter, death casts a shadow over life. We can rightly ask what’s the point of life if it only ends in death.
That’s the lesson of our text. Hebrews 2 says Jesus came in flesh and blood. He tasted life just like us. He knows and understands life. He also knows and understands death. He tasted, faced it down, and conquered it for us!
This is also the appeal of 1 Corinthians 15—the great resurrection chapter of the Bible. The argument of the chapter goes something like this: You think you want to give up? You are tempted to live a life ruled by “eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow you die?” You find it hard to walk in the ways of God in life because you know you are headed for death? Think again. Eternal life follows death. How do we know? Jesus arose from dead. Because he lives, you too can live. The conclusion: “The argument— Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (v 58).
Oliver Cromwell the leader of the English Revolution in the 1600’s once wrote about an experience of one of his aids. He had sent the aid on some important business in another city. The aid was a born worrier. If something went right, he worried that it wouldn’t last. If something went wrong, he fretted that it would get worse. The night before his important meeting he tossed and turned all night, hardly sleeping at all.
The next morning his servant noticed that something was wrong. “Why didn’t you sleep,” he asked his master. “I am so afraid that something will go wrong today.”
"Master," said the servant, "May I ask a question or two?" "Certainly,” the master replied. "Did God rule the world before we were born?" "Most assuredly He did." "And will He rule it after we are dead?" "Certainly He will." "Then, master, why not let Him rule the present, too?"
Easter reminds us that our God is in control of death and life!
We are free from the fear of death because our sins are removed and our life is secure. Finally, Jesus frees us from the fear of death because we know the future that awaits.
"Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. . . . I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:1-6).
In his book Six Hours One Friday, Max Lucado tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The tribe was in need of medical attention. People were dying daily.
A hospital was not too terribly far away—across the river, but the Indians would not cross it because they believed it was inhabited by evil monsters. To enter the water would mean certain death. The missionary explained how he had crossed the river and was unharmed. They were not impressed. He then took them to the bank and placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn’t go in. He walked into the water up to his waist and splashed water on his face. It didn’t matter. They were still afraid to enter the river.
Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He punched a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water and escaped. It was then that the Indians broke out into a cheer and followed him across.
That’s exactly what Jesus did! He told the people of His day that they need not fear the river of death, but they wouldn’t believe. He touched a dead boy and called him back to life. They still didn’t believe. He whispered life into the body of a dead girl and got the same result. He let a dead man spend 4 days in a tomb and then called him out and the people still didn’t believe Him. Finally, He entered the river of death and came out on the other side. That’s the Easter story.
One Final Appeal: Easter is about Jesus! Don’t let anything distract you!
When Leonardo DaVinci was forty-three years old, the Duke of Milan asked him to paint the dramatic scene of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. Working slowly and giving meticulous care to details, he spent three years on the assignment. He grouped the disciples into threes, two groups on either side of the central figure of Christ. Christ’s arms are outstretched. In his right hand, He holds a cup, painted beautifully with marvelous realism.
When the masterpiece was finished, the artist said to a friend, "Observe it and give me your opinion of it!" "It’s wonderful!" exclaimed the friend. "The cup is so real I cannot divert my eyes from it!" Immediately Leonardo took a brush and drew it across the sparkling cup! He exclaimed, "Nothing shall detract from the figure of Christ!"
That’s the only way you will ever know freedom from the fear of death—keep your eyes on Jesus!
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
