John 11:25–26
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 lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
The Bible calls death “the last enemy”–the stubborn, lingering cause of so much pain and sorrow. It touches all of us, and it feels crushing. Yet, while death feels final, it is in fact temporary. And God has guaranteed this for us through his very Son. In the person of Jesus we have an empathetic, understanding comforter to our grief when we face death. John 11 tells the story of Jesus losing one of his dearest friends, and he responded in the most human way possible: he wept over this loss (v.35). He was infuriated and heart broken over the awfulness of death as any person would be.
But Jesus was also the Son of God, so he responded in a way that no one else could and in a way everyone else needs: He declared himself to be the resurrection and the life. In the face of death Jesus declared that life is found in him, that he would overcome and conquer death. And at the cross he did just this. Then in his resurrection he proved that he is the resurrection.
So when we are crushed by grief we have assurance through Jesus that our cries are heard, that we are deeply understood, and that he will pour out comfort on us. When Jesus rose from the dead that Easter, he was the assurance and the down payment of what was to come: a total undoing of death. One day Jesus will do away with all that is painful. He will do away with all that is evil. All that is death and feels like death will be no more. He will make all things new. (Revelation 21)
The one who died will undo death by his death. The one who wept over death will wipe away your tears.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.