DYING is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it,’ said the English playwright, poet and author W. Somerset Maugham.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to evade the inevitable – we are all destined to die at some time. A rather blunt statement, I know, but nonetheless true.
It may be traumatic to consider our own departure from this life, but the loss of someone we love is also very painful. The grief we feel can show itself in emotions such as shock, anger and guilt. The sadness may appear to be endless. Many people believe that death is the end, after which there is nothing.
But is there anything after death? Is there any hope?
Lazarus, a friend of Jesus’, had died at Bethany, and Jesus went to visit the two bereaved sisters, Mary and Martha. They were distraught, and Jesus felt their pain. The biblical account says that ‘Jesus wept’ (John 11:35 New International Version).
Earlier Jesus had told Martha: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’ (11:25).
Jesus’ words in Bethany were not just an attempt to ease the pain of the grieving sisters. Nor did they refer to the time that some Jews expected when everyone who had died would be brought back to life.
Jesus was claiming that, through him, everybody could enjoy eternal life beyond death. As a sign of God’s power over death, Jesus raised Lazarus there and then. He instructed that the stone in front of the tomb be rolled away, and he called: ‘Lazarus, come out!’ (11:43).
Then people saw Lazarus, who had been dead and buried for four days, come back to life and walk out of his tomb. As they saw him, so they discovered that Jesus was no ordinary man.
The Jesus who spoke those words so long ago is still the same today. He has not changed.
Life for us can seem dull and finite, and death absolutely final. But that does not have to be the case. Jesus offers us a life of quality here and now which will never cease.
Jesus offers us a resurrection life, if we will believe in and follow him.
TSA UK
Unfortunately, it is not possible to evade the inevitable – we are all destined to die at some time. A rather blunt statement, I know, but nonetheless true.
It may be traumatic to consider our own departure from this life, but the loss of someone we love is also very painful. The grief we feel can show itself in emotions such as shock, anger and guilt. The sadness may appear to be endless. Many people believe that death is the end, after which there is nothing.
But is there anything after death? Is there any hope?
Lazarus, a friend of Jesus’, had died at Bethany, and Jesus went to visit the two bereaved sisters, Mary and Martha. They were distraught, and Jesus felt their pain. The biblical account says that ‘Jesus wept’ (John 11:35 New International Version).
Earlier Jesus had told Martha: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’ (11:25).
Jesus’ words in Bethany were not just an attempt to ease the pain of the grieving sisters. Nor did they refer to the time that some Jews expected when everyone who had died would be brought back to life.
Jesus was claiming that, through him, everybody could enjoy eternal life beyond death. As a sign of God’s power over death, Jesus raised Lazarus there and then. He instructed that the stone in front of the tomb be rolled away, and he called: ‘Lazarus, come out!’ (11:43).
Then people saw Lazarus, who had been dead and buried for four days, come back to life and walk out of his tomb. As they saw him, so they discovered that Jesus was no ordinary man.
The Jesus who spoke those words so long ago is still the same today. He has not changed.
Life for us can seem dull and finite, and death absolutely final. But that does not have to be the case. Jesus offers us a life of quality here and now which will never cease.
Jesus offers us a resurrection life, if we will believe in and follow him.
TSA UK
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