Shall Never Perish

“And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.”  Mark 5:21-24

“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.”  Mark 5:35-43

I would like to start here, with one of the more spectacular miracles of Jesus.

This is a powerful lesson on what faith can do, Jesus simply asked the father to believe, and then He raised his daughter.

But there is something a bit deeper that I want us to look at, something I think is often overlooked.

“And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying” Mark 5: 39-40

Jesus told them she was just sleeping, and that she was not dead. And they laughed.

Isn’t that how most of us, even in the church, react to outlandish sounding statements of faith these days? Here Jesus not only ignores those who doubt, but excludes them completely from what happens next. He sent them out, and took with Him only those who believed.

However, we all know the story, she is restored and everyone is happy. I want to look closer at the words: “The damsel is not dead”. She very clearly was. Death was not an uncommon thing in these days; people knew what a dead thing looked like. Yet Jesus says that she isn’t dead.

Perhaps they didn’t know what death was, and perhaps… we still don’t.

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” John 11:25-26

Ah, here we find words in another resurrection story. This time it was Lazarus, again we all know the story so I just want to focus on the above verses. We know that Jesus spoke truth to us, and here we see Him clearly say that if we believe in Him, we shall NEVER die.

Interesting… but we have all lost people, been to funerals, or heard about the deaths of famous people, even “christians”. So does that mean none of us have faith? That we don’t believe in Him?

Or does that mean that we don’t know what death is?

Christ promised us this more than once, if you wish to see another verse just look here:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”  John 10: 27-28.

So the natural conclusion is one of two things, either A, none of us, including the disciples, truly had faith. Or, we can’t tell the difference between dead and sleeping.

Paul discusses death and the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as in the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, bretheren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 15: 42-58

Now this is a powerful piece of scripture. I could probably write a whole post just on this here (although at this point I have no intention of doing that, though who knows, maybe someday). What I want to focus on is the heavy emphasis here on the resurrection being a change. Whether we are alive or “dead” these bodies will not go with us into eternity, we will receive new spiritual bodies.

Note how Paul also uses the words “we shall not all sleep”.

This is seemingly random and put in where all other similar words are death, and dead. By all rights that word could easily read as die, yet Paul doesn’t say that. He says sleep.

Are they interchangeable? Is there a distinction? I can’t really say for sure. What I can say is that death has always been a statement of finality, and in Christ, nothing is final. I like this word sleep. We don’t have to mourn the passing of those we know and care about, or even of ourselves.

It is not final, simply a quick nap before being called home to Christ, refreshed and ready for eternity.