Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. John 11:25-26 (Gospel on the Saturday of Lazarus)
A few years ago, an older parishioner passed away. She had lived a long life, and she was a person of great faith. The night before she passed away, I visited her in a nursing facility. She was suffering from dementia and had long ago lost her ability to carry on conversation. She came to church rarely and only with great difficulty. I will always remember that last visit because I wanted her to receive Holy Communion and had hoped that she was conscious enough to do it. I remember singing a few hymns and this seemed to wake her up enough so that I could offer Holy Communion to her. This beautiful lady was a life-long church-goer. She had some pretty tough stuff thrown at her in her life, but she also had a deep and abiding faith. As I was about to leave, I decided, since I knew this was going to be the last time I ever saw her alive, that I should sing her favorite hymn, “Christ is Risen,” even though we were not in the Paschal season. As I sang the hymn, she started to sing with me. This was truly amazing, as she couldn’t remember my name, much less carry on a conversation, but she recognized Christ and she sang this most joyful hymn as she lay dying. In fact, she passed away very shortly after I left.
The next day, I started writing out a notice to send to our parishioners informing them of the funeral arrangements. As I wrote my customary “It is with great sadness that I inform you that _______ has passed away, ” I paused and thought to myself, “Am I really sad about this?” Of course, I was sad on a human level, this was someone I really loved. As a priest, and certainly as a Christian, how could I not be anything but happy about this? I decided that day to begin all funeral notices with these two verses above from the Gospel of John, read in the Gospel on the Saturday of Lazarus. I also changed how I described the event of death, from “passed away” to “fell asleep in the hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.”
Indeed, today’s event of the Saturday of Lazarus is a reminder to all that there is life after death, and this is possible because of, and only because of, the power of Jesus Christ. He is Lord of the living and the dead.
In the raising of Lazarus, Jesus shows both His humanity and His divinity. He shows His humanity because when He goes to the tomb of Lazarus, He pauses to weep, a very human emotion. This is why it is not inappropriate to weep when someone dies. If the Son of God shed tears for His friend, it is totally acceptable for us to shed tears as well. In fact, there are two times in the Bible that we read that Jesus wept. The first was at the tomb of Lazarus and the second time was in the Garden of Gethsemane, as He wept about His own impending death.
Being scared of dying is okay too. To fear the pain that often goes with the dying process is something to be concerned with. Physical death, however, is the necessary “rite of passage” to attain eternal life. So when one “passes away in the hope of eternal life,” meaning when one has lived a life that has honored God, then our spiritual emotion for them should be one of joy.
Perhaps the healthiest way to look at death is a passage to everlasting life. For the person who is going there, we have joy. For us who are left behind, we have human sorrow. For the person who is leaving, there is sadness to leave others behind. There is spiritual joy for what is to come.
Our church, I believe, has a healthy view of death. Not only do we have memorial services to remember and honor those who have passed away. We even consider them to remain part of the church. We call the church on earth the “church militant,” the fighting church, still working its way to salvation. We call the church of heaven “the church triumphant;’ meaning the segment of the church whose earthly battle has been won, whose members are now beginning their heavenly reward and waiting for us to join them. These two segments of the church-the church militant and the church triumphant-are shown in a visible way on the stole that the priest wears for every liturgical act. Each stole has two layers of fringe on the bottom, one for the church militant and one for the church triumphant, as a reminder that even those who pass away remain part of our church, and when we gather to pray, even TWO people (the priest and one other person, as in confession), that we gather with the WHOLE of the church-church militant and church triumphant-to pray.
Let’s change some terminology-we define “life” as the time we spend on earth. We define “death” as the time when “life” ends. In the eyes of God, “life” means being in the presence of God, and “death” denotes the absence of God. One who is “dead” is absent from God. That’s why those who are in heaven are said to inherit “eternal life,” and those who are in hell are the ones who are truly “dead.” “Life” as we call it, should be redefined as “preparation.” Our time on earth prepares us for the life to come. “Death,” is our “passing” away from earth. So, using these new terms, we “prepare” during our time on earth. At the end of that time, we “pass away” and go to God for judgment, after which we enter either “death” (Hell) or “life” (Heaven). This is why
Jesus says, “he who believes in Me, though He die, yet shall He live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Because if physical death is merely a passing to an eternal life with God, the person who passes continues to live and can never die. This is cause for spiritual joy indeed.
This doesn’t mean we don’t have the right to grieve, especially when a person dies young. It also doesn’t mean we don’t have the right to scratch our heads or even question God’s plan especially when someone dies suddenly or in an accident. There are things that happen in life that will leave us scratching our heads and even questioning God. It is especially in these times, when we have to have the faith of Martha, who even though she was saddened by the death of her brother, who was young, still found faith to say to the Lord, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who is coming into the world” (John 11 :27). In these times we need spiritual support from others. The Christian life is not an easy one, but remember that this life, whether it be good or terrible, is just a preparation for the time that will count, because it will be permanent and eternal, it will either be life or death.
O Lord, even as You said to Martha: I am the Resurrection; so You fulfilled Your word in action by calling back Lazarus from Hades. Resurrect me, also, for I am dead through passions. I beseech You, compassionate One who loves mankind. (From the Praises of Saturday of Lazarus, Trans. by Fr. Seraphim Dedes)
Work toward eternal life today!
~Father Stavros N. Akrotirianakis, THE ROAD BACK TO CHRIST: REFLECTIONS on LENT, HOLY WEEK and the RESURRECTION
