“We celebrate the life of…” this is how the theme is captured of the gathering before a funeral or cremation. “We raise the glass to the life of…” is a known variant. But how is it done in church?

Is the “remember you must die” (memento mori) only seen over the entrance to the cemetery, or also above the entrance of our church buildings? Eternal life is being proclaimed to those who will face death.

Of course, the title we used above is odd. And yet, from our culture the question comes to the surface, also in the Christian community: “do we really die?”

With this question we do not deny that everyone knows that at some point we will all die. But this question is being asked because this knowledge seems to barely have any influence on our lives.

As we listen these (Easter) weeks in the preaching and at other occasions to the words about the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, it is beneficial to find out how we speak about death, and our dying, in the preaching.

Below follow the first of three different viewpoints to motivate us, so that in the preaching of the Word we continue to give attention to our last hour (on this earth). Subsequently, we then give three characterizations of the preaching itself, in which death and life  are being proclaimed.

As angle for a Biblical-theological motivation to preach about death, I chose three keywords. They are taken from Israel’s journey from Egypt through the dessert to Canaan, and Israel’s return from exile, which after all is drawn in images which have been taken from this trip.

It is like an analogy in structure between the “old” and the “new’” exodus.

They are three keywords which fit three portraits of a Christian: the pilgrim, the disciple, and the citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

Exodus⤒🔗

Death in the Bible is under a special light. Death is the wage that sin pays out (Rom. 6:23).

“Dying you shall die” or “you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17), is what God said if his commandment would be broken by man.

Death is the judgment of God over our pulling away from the gracious hands of the God of life, our Life. For now, it holds that “all flesh is like grass” (Isa. 40:6). The “tree of life” became unattainable for us. Whoever still wanted to flee there, would die. This is what the angel with the drawn sword proclaimed, standing at the entrance of Paradise.

Death is connected with sin and therefore also with the realm of darkness, and with the “prince of darkness”. We live in the shadow of death, bound in that distress. That is not a romantic pessimism, but biblical realism.

“Who saves his soul, his life, from the grave?” No one. Death is inevitable. One cannot escape it.

Are we slaves, prisoners, of death? Yes.

But there is an exodus possible out of this existence of death.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death — that is, the devil — and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slaveryHeb. 2:14-15.

The eternal Son of God took on our flesh and blood, so that from within he could break open the dungeon in which we were imprisoned, and to disable the jailer of this prison, the devil. That is how God’s children may exit. An exodus from the power of sin and of death. This way we can truly speak of an exodus: “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Heb. 13:14).

The image which is drawn here is the picture of a Christian as traveller, a pilgrim.

The Passage←⤒🔗

When we continue to think in terms of the exodus, then the image of the passage (through the Red Sea) also comes into view. It is not without  reason that in the form for baptism, the prayer references the passage through the Red Sea. Passage and baptism are connected. In the Belgic Confession (Book of Praise, page 513, article 34), we confess that the Son of God is our Red Sea.

So, baptism is connected with death. The death of Christ is also the death in which all who are in Christ, share. A chapter such as Romans 6 is foundational to understand our baptism in light of death. The exodus from the realm of death is being sealed as it were in this passage of baptism: to die with Christ and so enter (eternal) life. That is to properly understand your baptism: to die in order to live.

The dying with or in Christ is a fact, but it also becomes part of our life, namely in killing sin in our life. Talking about the dying of the old man is a different wording of this. “Whoever dies before he dies, does not die anymore when he dies” was a well-known expression in the past.

In any case, it formulates things very succinctly.

This is how Paul writes about this: “We are always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor. 4:10-11).

The image of a Christian who is also connected to baptism is that of a disciple. Discipleship means a life of passage:

At your word, O Life of our life, we throw away our shroud
The power of your Spirit has driven us out, and we emerge from our grave of sin
Teach us daily, over and over again, that dying on the cross of sin is what we want to do
And rise again, and be born again, and enter into eternity with You!

To follow Christ is a life through death unto eternity.

Entry←⤒🔗

The exodus (from the realm of death) leads via the passage (a life a dying to live) to the entry (the resurrection to eternal life). That this is not common sense, but a matter of faith, becomes clear from what is written in the letter to the Hebrews. When the New Testament congregations are encouraged there in the preaching to persevere on their paths after the exodus, then the “old” exodus is being used as example. All travelled through the Red Sea, but not all entered the Promised Land. All were placed in relation to the Mediator, and yet they perished. Hebrews 3:19 says: “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”

There was the promise of rest, of liberation. They heard the gospel in their prison of death, and yet they did not enter (into) the rest.

To die is an entrance into eternal life, is how the church of the Reformation confesses in Lord’s Day 16 of the Heidelberg Catechism (Book of Praise, page 530). For those who are in Christ, dying is the entrance to the eternal glory. Dying is gain if our life is in Christ. To breathe our last breath here means that we start breathing for ever in the love of the triune God in God’s eternal kingdom. That kingdom is there as certain as Christ rose from death. That future is already certain for those who believe in Christ.

With this we can work out yet another portrait of a Christian. A Christian is besides pilgrim and disciple, also a citizen of the kingdom of God.

Preaching of the Word←⤒🔗

How do we preach about dying? Three aspects can be mentioned.

There is first of all the prophetic sermon. This characterization has to do with what Moses says to the people in his farewell speech: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him…” (Deut. 30:19-20). In the prophetic preaching God comes under oath to the people of his covenant: “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11). In 1 John 1:1-4 we read that preaching about dying is to proclaim (the eternal) life.

How does this prophetic sermon take shape? In a priestly claim. Otherwise, we fear that the “prophet” may be too demanding. This priestly claim is based on what we read about our heavenly High Priest in the letter to the Hebrews. He, who has taken on our flesh and blood, and who has been tempted in all things like we have been, but without sin. Must fear for death be unmasked as unbelief in the preaching? One day, Jesus sees the way of grain before him, how the seed falls into the ground and dies. It seems significant to me that especially in that connection we hear the words: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say?” (John 12:27).

His bewilderment, as the road before him is like an unfinished puzzle, was not a lack of faith.

Preaching about dying is to preach “as someone dying to the dying”. Perhaps it is not that strange after all: “dear fellow travellers on your way to eternity”. It is a saying that the older generation will recognize, but not those of the 21^st century.

Preaching about dying has as content and stands in the perspective of the royal burglary. For through the words of eternal life, the King breaks into our lives. In our existence of death, he draws us from the power of darkness (and death) toward the light (and life).

In Revelation 1:17-18 we read: “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” These are the words of the great Key-carrier of the realm of death and death itself, who in this manner also uses the key in the preaching.

Preaching about dying in the light of Easter. “We celebrate life”?! Yes, in the deep sense of the Word this can only happen in church, and it is only true for those to whom this applies: “Whoever believes in Me will live, though he has died.” Especially since we must die, the “think of life” sounds against the background of “think of death”.

Because we have a living Saviour, the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who have heard it will live. “The Lord is risen indeed. Hallelujah!”