Death into Life
Of all the losses we encounter in human life, the physical death
of someone we love is the most profound loss. The death of a loved one utterly
alters our lives. We are never the same. The comedian Woody Allen once
accurately summed up the American’s experience of death when he said, “I’m not
afraid of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” American slang
is filled with death images, like “killing an opponent” or “destroying a
competitor.” Though death occupies much of our language, our popular television
and movies, and digital games, we are so uncomfortable by death that we flee in
great fear when we encounter it in real life. In the raising of Lazarus from
the dead, Jesus restores life to his friend at a tremendous cost to himself. In
resurrecting Lazarus, Jesus knows that his opponents will put into motion the
plan that will end in his own crucifixion. So that Lazarus may live, Jesus
gives Lazarus his life and takes upon himself Lazarus’ death.
Unlike many of
us, Jesus does not run away from death, but boldly embraces death and in doing
so transforms it. As Jesus tells Martha,
‘I am the
resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never
die.” St Paul will later write, “Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O
death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Death, for you and for
me, is no longer the end of all things, but the beginning of all things. It is
the gateway to eternal life.
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