Dying Well
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
From time to time, we hear of how someone died suddenly, but peacefully, in their sleep. When many of us hear about such good deaths; we might secretly hope that our own deaths will be as peaceful.
But we also know that we do not have any control over how we will die. It could be quietly in our sleep, or struggling on a hospital ICU bed in the last ravages of a deadly disease.
The Bible is full of accounts of people dying. Some are matter-of-fact mentions of the event, while others are poignant in their details. The death of Jesus is one such example. He did not quietly die in His sleep, but struggling painfully on a cross, fully experiencing the physical agony, psychological loneliness, social humiliation, and spiritual despair.
In the midst of it all, he demonstrated a good death in the way He talked with His Father and loved even His persecutors. Even in the painful throes of His death, Jesus prayed that His enemies would be forgiven, met the needs of His mother and the sinner hanging on a nearby cross, and committed His spirit to the Father. Watching Jesus die impressed the observant centurion, who was taking it all in—so much that he praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man” and “the Son of God” (Luke 23:47; Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39).
Later the disciples of Jesus would understand the full implications of His death—that He died for our sins so that we may be saved from our sins and eternal death, and that He came to die with us, to help us die a good death. Those who know and believe that Jesus died for their salvation would then be able to die with His presence, and whatever the circumstances, that death will be a good death like His. It is significant that the first martyr of the church, Stephen, died like his Saviour. When he was stoned to death, he prayed for his murderers and commended his spirit to Jesus (Acts 7:59–60).
Each of the disciples of Jesus, with the exception of the treacherous Judas, was martyred for Jesus in some way, and died a good death. Peter, who ran for dear life when Jesus was arrested, later met the risen Lord who told him how he would die as a martyr—a death that John reflects “would glorify God”. Jesus then asked Peter to follow Him (John 21:18-19). All who believe in Jesus for their salvation are called to carry their crosses, and follow Him to a good, God-glorifying death (Luke 9:23).
The apostle Paul also sensed his approaching martyrdom and looked to Jesus. He recognised the Lord’s loving presence, declaring that “The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5) and looking forward to “the crown of righteousness” that awaited him (2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18). Earlier, he had written about the hope of resurrection found in Christ, who came back from death to reassure us, and whose death took the sting out of our own deaths (1 Corinthians 15). It is for this reason that one who believes in Jesus can die a good death. Death is no longer the end, but a doorway to true blessedness. In 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, Paul urges us not to lose heart, but to “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”.
Those who know how to die well will also know how to live well. They will know the difference between what is important and what is not, between the transient and the eternal, between what lasts forever and what quickly fades away, between illusion and reality. Indeed, God’s people live well and die well—like their Lord Jesus.
Consider this:
What is a “good death”, and what can help us to die well? Discuss the assertion that if you know how to die well, then you will know how to live well. Reflect on your own death. What are your anxieties and hopes? Pray to the Lord about your own death. What will you tell Him or ask Him?
Excerpted and adapted from Apprenticed to Jesus: Learning from Him, Living Like Him by Robert M. Solomon. ©2014 by Robert M. Solomon. Used by permission of Armour Publishing. All rights reserved..