Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Then he raises her brother Lazarus from the dead to demonstrate to her and to us that he has authority over death.

Is this Bible passage relevant to us today? Oh, my friends, with this Covid pandemic the collective psychological health of our nation and of our world is under attack and deteriorating. We see many people living in such fear and anxiety and distress. Even many Christians seem to live with a subconscious dread. So many people live now in isolation. “What if I get the disease? What if I die gasping for breath?”

Now, I don’t want any of you to die. Death, in the Bible, is called an “enemy.” If, however, you have embraced the cross where Jesus died for your sins, and if you understand that Christ is raised from the dead and you are united to him in his resurrection, and if you have already, in your soul, begun eternal life, then how do you think about your own death? I have to ask myself what I ask you: Do you live with confidence that “whether you live or whether you die, you are the Lord’s.” Can I say, and can you say: “Covid, cancer, heart disease, or just old age, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain?“

It’s worth having a conversation with the Lord about this.

Musings from Pastor John, November 22, Click to Email Pastor John

Click Below for Pastor John’s sermon from November 22, Our God is the God of the Living, Matthew 22:23-33