I have been blessed to be at the bedside of saints as they draw their last breath. As these saints are closing their eyes to the sleep of death, they are not afraid. They have a quiet, calm confidence in Jesus Christ and the certain hope of his resurrection from the grave. That confidence emanates from our final Hymn of the Day for the Easter season, “Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense.”
Verse one: Jesus Christ, my sure defense and my Savior, now is living! Knowing this, my confidence rests upon the hope he’s giving, though the night of death be fraught still with many’ an anxious thought.
The sure and certain confidence the Christian has when facing death is that Jesus Christ faced death … and won! He was dead and now is living! Though our time on this world will be filled with loneliness, fear, hurts, and anxiety – ultimately, those are all subjective feelings. We trust in the objective, historical fact of Jesus Christ’s bodily resurrection from the grave. This is our assurance that we, too, will rise from our graves. That knowledge drives all anxious thoughts from our minds.
Verse two: Jesus, my Redeemer, lives; I, too, unto life shall waken. Endless joy my Savior gives; shall my courage then be shaken? Shall I fear, or could the head rise and leave his members dead?
In 1 Corinthians 12, St. Paul describes our relationship with Christ in terms of body parts. Jesus Christ is the head and Christians are the body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Since Jesus, our Redeemer lives, then we will live, too. Since the head rises, then the rest of the body must rise, too.
Verse three: No, too closely am I bound unto him by hope forever; faith’s strong hand the rock has found, grasped it, and will leave it never. Even death now cannot part from its Lord the trusting heart.
By God’s grace, the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith. That faith is like a hand that grasps the solid rock of Jesus Christ. Though our faith may weaken, and our grasp might lessen, still the rock of Christ is secure. Still the Holy Spirit strengthens our grip through his Word and Sacraments, so we never let go. Even death cannot cause us to lose our grip on Christ and the victory of death and the grave he won for us.
Verse four: I am flesh and must return unto dust, whence I am taken; but by faith I now discern that from death I shall awaken with my Savior to abide in his glory, at his side.
When I teach on death, I often talk about a young boy who is afraid of dying. His mother assures him by reminding her son of how he often falls asleep curled up on the sofa watching a movie with his parents. Sometime during the night, big strong arms lift him up so that he wakes up the next morning in his own room. She assures her son that’s what death is like. It’s falling asleep, then big, strong, angelic arms pick up the Christian child of God so that he or she wakes up in their own room in heaven.
Verse five: Glorified, I shall anew with this flesh then be enshrouded; in this body I shall view God, my Lord, with eyes unclouded; in this flesh I then shall see Jesus Christ eternally.
The other day, the third graders in our Lutheran elementary school were asking me what we will look like in heaven. They were wondering if babies remain babies and old people remain old people. One student asked me if he died as a child, would he become an adult in heaven. I asked him if he wanted to be an adult in heaven. He replied emphatically, “No! Adults are boring!”
I answered the students that the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what our bodies will be like. St. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 15 that our bodies will be different (1 Corinthians 15:35-49). Our resurrected bodies will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual. We aren’t told precisely what heaven will be like, but we are assured there will be no more hunger, thirst, heat, or tears (Revelation 7:16, 17).
I ended my conversation with the third graders saying that I don’t know precisely what our resurrected bodies will be like … but they will be perfect. So, I told them I’m confident that my color-blindness and tone-deafness will be gone, and I’ll be able to see the brilliance of the glories of paradise and sing with the saints. And they will, too.
Death is not our end. It is our glorious beginning. So, we end the Easter season with the confidence of singing, “Jesus Christ, my sure defense and my Savior, now is living!”