Jesus and Death

Introduction

People often wish that they could speak with their departed loved one more time.

This is especially true if one did not get a chance to say, “Goodbye.”

Pastors would also like to speak with them one more time.

However, the best I can do for now is to speak with you.

Funerals are significant events in our lives.

We recognize that a person’s earthly journey has come to an end.

We will never again have the chance to speak with her, laugh with her, hug her, and let her know that we love her.

A funeral is a transition.

It is a transition from this life to the next.

It is where everyone of us is headed also.

I want to discuss with you some eternal matters.

When Jesus came to his final week of life, he asked his disciples to prepare a Passover Meal for all of them in Jerusalem.

Jesus knew that he was going to die the next day, and so he wanted to talk with his disciples about his imminent death.

Scripture

Let me read John 13:1:

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Lesson

John 13:1 points us to eternal matters.

Let me use the following outline:

Jesus Knew Death Was Near (13:1a)

Jesus Knew Where He Was Going (13:1b)

Jesus Loved His Own to the End (13:1c)

I. Jesus Knew Death Was Near (13:1a)

First, Jesus knew death was near.

John said that Jesus “knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world” (13:1a).

Jesus did not think of death as final.

He knew that he was departing out of this world.

He knew that he was going to another place, a better place.

There is a sense in which all of us live in the shadow of death.

The Psalmist writes, “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more” (Psalm 103:15-16).

In reality, each one of us begins to die the moment we are born.

We all hope to live long and fulfilling lives.

And yet, we know that death can come to any one of us at any time.

We may get cancer.

We may suffer heart failure.

We may die in a car accident.

The death summons sometimes comes abruptly and unexpectedly.

Though Cindy had been declining and had a rough last few months, there is a sense in which her death was unexpected.

Yet, thankfully, she was ready when it came.

II. Jesus Knew Where He Was Going (13:1b)

Second, Jesus knew where he was going.

John said that Jesus was going “to the Father” (John 13:1b).

Jesus had come to Earth from his Father.

He left the glory of heaven, set aside the prerogatives of deity, and took on human flesh.

He lived until his early thirties when he was unjustly sentenced to death.

Jesus lived his entire life in perfect obedience to God and his moral law.

He was, of course, on a mission to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).

Having successfully obeyed his Father throughout his life, he knew that his earthly ministry was coming to an end.

He was going back to his heavenly Father.

Jesus explained to his disciples that he was going to die the next day.

They were grief-stricken.

They were perplexed.

They were heartbroken.

Jesus, however, assured them that one day they would be with him.

After Jesus and his disciples had eaten the Feast of the Passover, he said to them in John 14:1-3:

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

What Jesus said in the Upper Room to his disciples is true for every disciple of Jesus in the past two millennia.

That was true of Cindy.

She knew that one day she would be with Jesus for all eternity.

How about you?

Do you know where you are going when you die?

III. Jesus Loved His Own to the End (13:1c)

And third, Jesus loved his own to the end.

John said of Jesus that “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1c).

The expression “he loved them to the end” can also be translated as “he now showed the full extent of his love” or “he loved them utterly.”

The point is that Jesus’ love for his own disciples is whole, complete, and never-ending.

That is why John said just a short time later, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Jesus’ love for his disciples never fails.

Jesus’ love for his disciples never fails when we need strength.

Jesus’ love for his disciples never fails when we need support to overcome temptation or trials.

Jesus’ love for his disciples never fails when we face death.

Cindy suffered a catastrophic stroke (to quote Mandy, her daughter), and so she did not have time to realize that the end of her life was near.

Yet, even though she was not aware, Jesus loved her to the end.

The disciple of Jesus never has to fear death, for as the Apostle Paul said to the Romans in Romans 8:35-39:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Conclusion

So, how does a person become one of Jesus’ own?

How does a person become one whom Jesus loves to the end?

Earlier in his ministry, Jesus said to those who were thirsting for eternal life, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37).

When we attend a funeral, it is always an appropriate time to reflect on our own eternal destiny.

Where will you spend eternity?

You will spend eternity with Jesus and his Father in heaven.

Or you will spend eternity in hell.

So, consider Jesus’ invitation to go to him.

Turn from your sins.

Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of Sinners.

Believe that he died to pay the penalty for all your sins so that you can have eternal life.

When John introduced his Gospel, the good news about Jesus, he said of Jesus, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Decades ago, Cindy received Jesus.

She believed in his name.

Jesus gave her the right to become a child of God.

Right now, Cindy is in the presence of Jesus and God the Father.

She is experiencing the truth of what she believed for many years.

If you have never done so, I urge you to turn to Jesus, believe in him, and receive eternal life. Amen.