THE LORD’S VICTORY AND HIS SYMPATHY
Our sister has fallen asleep through Jesus. As our brother said in prayer, it is an experience none of us has yet had, but for her it is an experience of bliss, we may be assured of that. We are in the presence of the article of death, but what makes all the difference to the believer when he faces death is to appreciate that the Lord Jesus has lain in death. Samson’s riddle says, “Out of the eater ...”—the eater is death, the great devastator of mankind. Think of all the sorrows that have resulted from this mighty eater, the great enemy, because death is spoken of as an enemy in 1 Corinthians 15: 26. This great enemy has devastated mankind from Abel, whom we understand was the first to die, right down to the present day. But there was one death that was different, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the only One whose life was not forfeited. All our lives are forfeited because of the disobedience of the first Adam; the whole race is under the penalty of death; but there was One blessed Man here whose life was not forfeited, the only One who had a right to live; but that blessed, holy, unique Man went into death.
“Out of the eater”, out of the desolator, has come food. Who could have thought that death would yield? but the death of the Lord Jesus has yielded a wondrous living throng. It has brought in life, it has brought in food for the believer. The Lord said, “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal” (John 6: 54); “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him”, John 6: 56. The death of the Lord Jesus provides food for the believer, “Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong”, out of the strength of death, “came forth sweetness”. Think of the sweetness of knowing our sister’s present experience, sweetly fallen asleep through Jesus, the Lord Jesus being instrumental in putting our sister to sleep. How sweet to think of that!
“Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong”—death—“came forth sweetness”. Life, true life, life according to God, has come out of the death of the Lord Jesus. It is wonderful to think of our Lord Jesus Christ as a mighty Conqueror over death. He invaded that empire. He came out of it victorious. He stepped out of that tomb in life out of death, and believers share that same life with Him. “Quickened together with him” (Col 2: 13) means that we are made to live in His life, and it all results from the death of the Lord Jesus and His coming out in resurrection. We were reading last night of the Lord saying, “I am the resurrection and the life”, John 11: 25. Life was inherent in our Lord Jesus Christ; resurrection was inherent in Him. Death could not hold Him. The miracle was that He died; it was no miracle that He arose, knowing who He is, because resurrection was inherent in Him. What a mighty Conqueror! What a Saviour to know and to trust and to love!
But we see in John 11 that while the Lord Jesus is the mighty Conqueror over death. He is by no means aloof from the feelings of sorrow through which we pass. He knows what sorrows are. We read this touching verse, “Jesus therefore, when he saw her weeping”—that is, Mary—“and the Jews who came with her weeping, was deeply moved in spirit”. How many here are deeply moved in spirit, especially those who sorrow most; our beloved brother the husband of our sister, and her mother, are deeply moved in spirit. Others too are deeply moved in spirit. Let us remember that the Lord Jesus Himself “was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled”. Think of the trouble there has been, the awful desolation, death ending forever what is natural. The natural is sweet and is of God, but death ends it forever, but the Lord Jesus has feelings, such feelings for each person who is in sorrow at this time. He is now living, exalted, a glorious Man, but He is the same Jesus as He was here, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come”, Heb 13: 8. He would have us know His sympathies, His compassions, His feelings for us. He has actually taken our sister, but He is not aloof from the feelings that result in persons who have such a deep sense of loss.
May we all appreciate, may we all know better, our Lord Jesus Christ, and how He can draw near. What a heart He has! Our great High Priest is able to sympathise. There is nothing of sorrow that we go through that the Lord Jesus Himself has not gone through. He is not in sorrow now, therefore He is able to devote all His attention and provide all the sympathy that is needed for those that are going through these experiences.
So it says, “Jesus wept”. Think of that; He shed tears. There has been a blessed, holy Man here who has shed tears, in perfection feeling the sorrows that result from death, that eater, that devourer of mankind. The Lord Jesus wept, and He would give us a sense of how near He can be to us, how deep His feelings are. May we all know something about it! As our brother has said, we are all among the mourners today, but there are those who feel, and will feel, the sorrow most. There is sorrow today, and if the Lord does not come for us soon there are days ahead—maybe months ahead—when the effects of this desolator will be felt, but the Lord’s presence is to be known. There is a throne of grace available. “Let us approach therefore with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace for seasonable help”, Heb 4: 16. Whatever season it is, there is grace, the personal grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, available to each one of us. May we know more of it, for His Name’s sake.
EDINBURGH
24th February 1984
At a burial meeting
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