Why is Death so Difficult?

It’s one of the hardest things I do as a pastor. No matter how many times I do it, it doesn’t get any easier. When a family loses a loved one it’s painful, but when we leave the cemetery after a graveside service the pain is ratcheted up. On more than one occasion, walking back to my car, I’ve uttered under my breath, “Man, do I hate death.”

The grieving widows. The young daughters and sons. The parent who is trying to grasp the reality that their child died before they did. Death steals our hopeful expectations of the future. It destroys our plans for being together tomorrow. It is unbearably difficult. Perhaps you’ve experienced Nicholas Woltersorff’s words in Lament for a Son,

The pain of the no more outweighs the gratitude of the once was. Will it always be so?

No, it will not always be so.  But, today it will be.

A pastor friend of mine once shared that death was hard, because we were not created for it. Men and women were made in the image of God to live and not to die. It is sin that brought death (Rom. 5:12). When it did, all of humanity was asked to experience something they were not prepared for. It’s a bit like asking a delicate ballerina, to take her place on the offensive line of your favorite NFL team. She wasn’t made for it. When it comes to death, neither were we.

But there is hope, because the Lord has promised us we will not walk through the experience alone (Heb. 13:5) The Psalmist saw our loss and offered this promise.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Ps. 34:18).

So, while death is unbearably difficult, the Gospel offers the hope of life returned. Jesus said,

…whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life (John 5:24).

Sin brought death, but Jesus’ death brings life.