Hope Relieves Suffering
The unexpected death
of someone we love produces great suffering. Awareness of the end of a present
relationship produces feelings of bitter emptiness. The loss of future
possibilities in this life leaves a hole in our heart.
Jesus understands these
feelings. Jesus wept because He saw the pain of Mary and Martha over the death
of their brother Lazarus. His words to Martha bring comfort to those who suffer
the pain of death today: John 11:21-27 - “Lord," Martha said to Jesus,
"if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that
even now God will give you whatever you ask."
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise
again."
Martha
answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last
day."
Jesus said to her, "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. Do you believe this?"
"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that
you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
NIV
Linda and I experienced such pain when we received an
alarming phone call from Sheriff Smith of Tallapoosa County. Neill’s car was
found at the scene of a reported drowning at a graduation party on Lake Martin
near Dadeville, where we lived at the time of our first born son’s entry into
this life. Sheriff Smith was then a
merchant and our landlord. We had bought
our first furniture from him, as we sat up our household after my graduation
from Auburn in 1962. Twenty-four years later, Neill drowned a few miles from
where he was born.
I cannot find the words to express the terrible emptiness
that came when my brother Wilson called just as Linda and I were leaving to
drive the four hours to Lake Martin. The rescue squad had just found our son’s
body, and my brother had identified him.
The next few days are a blur in my memory. I do remember the
funeral service conducted by Jack Hackworth, and the comforting words of
friends and family who came to visit. But a father and daughter we did not know
spoke the most encouraging words. They had traveled from Gadsden to attend the
funeral. The daughter had been a student at Auburn while Neill was there. She
told us that she had been depressed and suicidal, and that Neill had told her
that Jesus loves her. She credited him with saving her life with those kind
words.
This confirmation of Neill’s faith in Jesus was like the sun
rising in the morning. Hope warms the
soul. Paul spoke of how the hope of the resurrection removes the sting of
death: 1 Cor 15:50-57- “I declare to
you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does
the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will
not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself
with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has
been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the
saying that is written will come true:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where,
O death, is your victory?
Where,
O death, is your sting?’”
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin
is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.” NIV
The resurrection of Jesus and the promise of our
own resurrection to eternal life remove the fear of death for those who trust
in Jesus. Comfort each other with this hope. Share this hope with others.
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