I Am the Resurrection and the Life
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26
Because of what Jesus says here some Christian churches no longer have “funerals” but rather a “victory service.” This is not a word game. Funeral is from the Latin for “dead body.” Victory service is from Jesus’ declaration to Martha and from 1 Corinthians 15:56-57: “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jesus kept the law in the place of sinners and on the cross suffered the punishment for sin that we by our sins deserved. When we, through faith, are connected with Christ, who is the resurrection and the life, then our dying physically does not mean dying forever. And when death is but a sleep from which our Savior will wake us to live forever with Him, then death is no longer death at all. The “King of Terrors” is now a shadow of its former self, a joke.
Have you ever gone to an event with someone who didn't need a ticket because of who he was; who only had to say “he or she is with me” and you were in? Hold fast to Jesus and the truth of his declaration to Martha your whole life through. And when you come to death and it seems like a terrible wall with no door at all, remember Jesus has been this way before. He's with you. He'll get you through. David knew that too when he said, “By my God I can leap over a wall.” (Psalm 18:29)
“God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9–10)
Since Thou the power of death didst rend,
In death Thou wilt not leave me;
Since Thou didst into heaven ascend,
No fear of death shall grieve me.
For where Thou art, there shall I be
That I may ever live with Thee;
That is my hope when dying.
The Lutheran Hymnal 594:4