Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
Quincy, IL
Rev. Larry D. Troxel
The Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 8:00 & 10:15 a.m.
“Blesséd are the dead who die in the Lord.”
(Revelation 14:13)
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Often it has been said of a person who died: “Poor so-and-so, he died.” That attitude and statement
are a denial and a contradiction of what Holy Scripture says about believers. This is what Holy Scripture says:
“I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blesséd are the dead who die in the Lord from
now on.’ ‘Blesséd indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their toilsome
labors, for their deeds follow after them!’ ”
When a loved one who trusted in Christ Jesus dies, we who remain in this life do grieve and mourn. We have suffered
a loss, a loss that is painful, a loss that is severe, a loss that profoundly changes the rest of our days. Because we are
flesh and blood and have feelings and are not made of wood and stone, we do sorrow and grieve and mourn. It is right
and proper for us to give expression to the pain we experience when the bonds of love, of relationship, and of friendship
are severed, especially when they are severed by death. When Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, died, Jesus also wept.1
And after living and working and praying with you for more than twenty-five years, I must admit that for me every funeral
is just that much more difficult. We dare not belittle the loss that we suffer when a loved one dies. It is difficult for us to
endure, for us who remain in this life, but certainly not for the person who died trusting in Christ Jesus.
So at the outset, let us be clear that the grieving and mourning that we very properly experience at the death of a loved one
is grieving and mourning for us. That is not selfish nor sinful; it is just the way God has made us.
But while we do mourn and grieve for the loss we have sustained, because of all that Christ Jesus has done for us, we
rejoice over all that the deceased believer has gained. That is what Holy Scripture makes known to us — the rich
blessings that are bestowed on the person who dies trusting in Christ Jesus.
The Apostle John, living in exile on the Roman prison island named Patmos, received a special revelation of our Lord
and what the future holds for those who trust in Him. In the course of all that John saw and heard, he heard a voice from
heaven telling him to write the words of our text. This is something which God our Savior wants us to know and to believe
with absolute certainty so that we may live in the true comfort and confidence which result from His resurrection victory. The
unbelievers in this world may look at the case of a Christian who dies and say, “Poor Christian, he died.” Our
Savior says something quite different. And God the Holy Spirit affirms what Jesus says and makes it even more clear.
“ ‘Blesséd are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blesséd indeed,’
says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their toilsome labors, for their deeds follow after them!’ ”
“Blesséd,” the word means that a person is on the receiving end of God’s gracious gifts and
treasures. It always is said of those who trust in Christ Jesus. It never is said of those who do not trust in Christ Jesus. In
His description of the judgment on the Last Day, Jesus said that He will say to those who trusted in Him, those who are
located at His right hand, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”2
But to those who did not trust in Him, to those located at His left hand, Jesus will say, “Depart
from Me, you cursed, …”3
Here we see the great difference that God’s gift of saving faith in Christ Jesus risen from the dead makes. For the
person who trusts in Jesus, death poses no real threat. And the loss which mourning believers feel is only temporary.
Yes, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”4
We die because we are sinful human beings. But that’s not the end of the story for those who trust in Christ Jesus.
By His resurrection, Jesus has disarmed death for us. Now it is nothing more than the open gate through which we pass
unharmed into the eternal presence of our God and Savior and to the full enjoyment of all that He has prepared for us. And
we have His promise that the body which dies and decays will be raised and glorified and in that glorified body we will live
forever in His presence with perfect joy. With that as His sure and certain promise to us, we can face our own deaths with
confident peace. With Jesus’ sure and certain promise, we can mourn the death of believing loved ones and still
give thanks to God for all that our loved one has gained in Christ.
Not only does God the Holy Spirit affirm this as divine truth, saying, “Blesséd indeed.” He gives us
added insight into the true blessédness of those who have died trusting in Christ Jesus. “They rest from
their toilsome labors.” This is more than just rest from the work of daily life. This is rest from the results of sin,
the toil which we endure as the divine curse upon human sinfulness. God created work as part of His perfect creation,
giving human beings something useful to do in service and praise to God.5 The
burdensomeness, the toil, came only as the result of sin, of man’s rebellion against God.6
The rest that the deceased believer receives includes rest from the daily, minute-by-minute struggle against temptation
and sin and all the forces of evil that we face every day.
The deceased believer rests in the fullness of the rest of which Jesus spoke when He said, “Come
to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”7
Christ Jesus is our true rest, and in Him we receive for all eternity rest from all our toilsome labors, especially our struggle against sin.
I know it is fashionable to say of any person who died that he or she is at rest or at peace or in a better place. If we are not
certain what that person believed, all we can say is, “I hope so.” We never attempt to pass judgment on the
eternal destiny of a person who has died. But Holy Scripture says that rest and peace and blessédness are given
only to those who die trusting in Christ Jesus. Those who die without saving faith in Christ Jesus receive no rest from their
eternal torments, no peace, and only the ultimate curse.
It also has been said that no one ever has seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer. In other words, you can’t take it
with you, meaning the objects, treasures, baubles, and trinkets of this life. But God the Holy Spirit does tell us of one thing
that does follow after the believer who has died. “Their deeds follow after them.” The record of a person’s
Christian life, cleansed of all sin by the blood of Jesus, follows after him or her and is remembered by God in heaven.
On the Last Day, the King and Judge of all, our Lord Jesus Christ, even cites that record as evidence of the faith in which
the deceased believer lived and died.8 No sin of the believer is ever mentioned because
the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sin.9 This, too, is a part of the true blessédness of the deceased
believer. And it is this for which we give God thanks and praise in our funeral service.
Because Christ Jesus lived for us, died in our place, and rose in victory for us, we live in a confidence and peace which nothing,
not even death, can destroy. With the Apostle Paul we boldly say that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the
love that God has for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.10 And with absolute confidence in Christ
Jesus, we can look death in the face and rejoice. We rejoice in Jesus’ victory over death and the grave. We rejoice in
His grace by which we have received His gift of saving faith. We rejoice in the great comfort He gives us in His Word and
Sacraments even as we mourn the death of a loved one who trusted in Jesus. And we look forward to our own death and
prepare for it with the peace and confidence which are ours in Christ Jesus. Truly, blesséd are the dead who die
in the Lord, including our loved ones and ourselves. Amen.
1. John 11:35
2. Matthew 25:34
3. Matthew 25:41
4. Romans 6:23
5. Genesis 2:15
6. Genesis 3:17
7. Matthew 11:28
8. Matthew 25:35–40
9. 1 John 1:7
10. Romans 8:31–39
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