Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

2. THE DOCTOR WHO ARRIVED TOO LATEWhat is death? Isit the fact that the heart hasstopped beating? Not necessarily. Sometimes the heartstops, then an electrical shock startsit pumping again. Butif the heart stops beating long enough so that the cells ofthe brain are deprived of oxygen for five or ten minutes,then the person dies with no possibility of resuscitation.This should be called the climax of death because death isa life-long process. God warned Adam and Eve not to eatof the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, "for in theday that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die" (Gen.2:17). Did they die? They continued to breathe and walk,and talk, but they did die. The process of death beganworking in them at the moment of their disobedience.Lazarus died. Mary and Martha went into mourning,and many people came out from Jerusalem to mourn withthem. The traditional period of mourning was seven daysand the mourning had gone on for four days when Jesusfinally arrived. Martha and Mary felt that somehowsomething might have been done differently. There was ahint that the Master, who had shown such compassion toothers, somehow, had not done all that He might havedone for His friend Lazarus.Was Jesus heartless? He had said to His disciples:"Lazarus is dead, and I am glad." But that is taking wordsout of context:"Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sakesthat I was not there, to the intent ye may believe;nevertheless let us go unto him" (John 11:14,15).3. JESUS AT THE FUNERALWhat would our Lord think of a modern Americanfuneral? In 1948, Evelyn Waugh wrote a biting satire, anovel, entitled, The Loved One,{4) with the setting acertain elaborate cemetery in a certain southernCalifornia city. More recently, Jessica Mitford wrote, TheAmerican Way of Death(S) — an expose of the Americanfuneral industry, and a plea for less expensive and lessostentatious programs.Jesus did what no one else could do. He broke upevery funeral He attended by raising the dead. He encounteredthe cortege of the only son of the widow ofNain, and He restored the son to life. Jairus' daughterdied, his only daughter, his twelve year old daughter. Jesussaid to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, "Little lamb,wake up." And then Lazarus died."When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, andthe Jews also weeping which came with her, Hegroaned in the spirit and was troubled, and said,Where have ye laid him. They said unto Him, Lord,come and see. Jesus wept" (John 11:33-35).Did you ever ask yourself, "Why did Jesus weep?"You can understand why He wept in the Garden ofGethsemane, but why did He weep at the grave ofLazarus? Were they tears of sympathy? He knew that in afew minutes, Lazarus would be standing in their midstalive again. He would say, "Lazarus, come forth!" andLazarus, who had been dead four days, would come forthfrom the tomb.6You will be surprised at the real reason. Jesus weptbecause He was angry! "He groaned in the spirit and wastroubled." This groaning was the indignation which theLord of Life felt at all the sorrow which sin had caused.How many times is the death scene repeated. All theparaphernalia of death made Jesus groan.Why do we have death in the world? Our Lord knewthe old-fashioned reason. Man was created immortal, butupon condition of obedience. Man disobeyed, and with sincame death, for God had said, "If thou eatest of theforbidden fruit thou shalt surely die." Everyone must facethe fact of death.But consider. The Christ who said, "Lazarus, comeforth" can change the meaning of death for us today. Forthe believer, the sting of death is removed. For thebeliever, death is no longer a dreadful thing, but a passingfrom mortal life to life immortal. The believer has the"hope that maketh not ashamed" (Rom. 5:5).Jonathan Edwards was faithful to his calling when hespoke these words at the close of a funeral address:"Let it be considered that if our lives be not ajourney towards heaven, they will be a journey tohell. All mankind, after they have been here a shortwhile, go to either of the two great receptacles of allthat depart out of this world: the one is heaven;whither a small number, in comparison travel; andthe other is hell, whither the bulk of mankind throng.And one or the other of these must be the issue ofour course in this world."(6)Our relationship to Jesus Christ will make the difference.• • •FOOTNOTES(1) Agee, James, A Death in the Family, Avon Books,New York, 1963.(2) Phelps, William Lyon, Adventures and Confessions,Charles Scribners and Sons, New York, 1926.(3) Johnson, Paul E., Psychology of Pastoral Care,Abingdon Press, New York, Nashville, 1953, p. 248.(4) Waugh, Evelyn, The Loved One, Little Brown,Boston, 1948.(5) Mitford, Jessica, The American Way of Death,Simon and Schuster, New York.(6) Blackwood, Andrew. The Protestant Pulpit,Abingdon Press, New York, Nashville, 1947, p. 48.Glimpses from page 4in modern language? Also, it will be interesting twhat they have to say about how we are to feed the poor insuch a way as to give them relief from hunger and somepermanent help in character building and self respect. Ourcountry, with the help of our Christian heritage, has notbeen notably successful in this. "Freely ye have received,freely give."• • •COVENANTER WITNESS