Jesus' view of death

[rjrjrj]

Hello,
I am a little bit confused on Jesus’ view of death. In the Bible, we read Jesus saying “Let the dead bury the dead” however we also read that “Jesus wept” when his friend died to the point where He had to go to him.
Thanks for the clarification.

 

[djeter]

http://www.storialibera.it/images/grandi_personaggi/romano_guardini.jpg

"Jesus speaks of death very seldom. This is the more surprising since death’s defeat stands at the very center of the Christian consciousness. …Jesus mentions it rarely, and then with no particular stress, but simply stating it as a fact, as in the parable of the wealthy debaucher and the beggar Lazarus, who both die when the appointed time comes [Luke 16:22]

Or the Lord speaks of death in connection with the Father’s guidance of the world, as in the parable of the man who brought in his harvest and rests, completely assured that now nothing can happen to him [Luke 12:20]. Another time Jesus tells the disciples that they are not to fear those who kill the body but only him who after the earthly death can also destroy the soul [Matthew 10:28].

Finally we come to that strange passage in which a man comes to Jesus and expresses the wish to follow him, but asks leave first to go and bury his Father (one of the most sacred duties). Jesus must have seen behind the delay was something that would shackle the would-be disciple, and he gives the harsh almost disdainful reply that simply shoves death aside: “Follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”….

If only Jesus vitality were in us, we should not know death. But that vital quality which in Jesus is not only indestructible, but intrinsic and creative, has been destroyed in us. Hence we die.

Our death is not ‘tacked on’ to life, it is a direct outcome of the kind of life we live. In our dying a condition already present in our living asserts itself: a condition – as we see by contrast with Jesus, the full measure of a man – which should not exist. Mortality has no foothold in Jesus.

For this reason, although he offered himself up in the Eucharist and died the death on the Cross, he exists only as “life:” (for us who are mortal as “the Resurrection”). Thus the human being linked in faith to Christ possesses a life that will outlive death and that already here on earth reaches into eternity. It is Christ himself who once expressed it: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”…

The dying of the Lord is always linked with the Transfiguration, for he dies in the abundance of life, not in weakness or decline. This is also apparent the last night in the Garden of Olives, where the full horror of his end breaks over him. Fearful unto death, he nevertheless surrenders his will to the Father’s. Christ the uncontaminated receives death only from the will of the Father, accepted in perfect freedom.

For this reason he “drank of death” more deeply than we ever could. We submit to death by force: he willed it in the ultimate intimacy of love. That is why his dying was so difficult.

It has been claimed that others have died worse deaths than Jesus Christ. This is not true. The purer stronger the life that death overcomes, the more terrible the dying. Our life is always so corrupted by death, that we have no idea what real, whole life is. Jesus was so entirely vital that he could say: I am life; thus he alone could drain death to the dregs and still prevail against it….

Death does not belong to the essence of human nature; it is pagan to claim that it does. Sin brings death because it tears people from God. Man’s real life is in the sharing of “the divine nature” that sin destroyed, thus causing the first death (of Adam). Since then we all die. Christ though exists not only in communion with divine nature, but in union with her. He himself is the life that overcomes sin and death."
Fr. Romano Guardini

Isn’t that just marvelous? I love Fr. Guardini. The above comes from his magisterial work “The Lord” which Pope Benedict referred to as foundational in his Jesus of Nazareth.

I just posted Fr. Guardini’s writings on Jesus’ difficult scriptural passages concerning Christian marriage and virginity.

You can find that here:

payingattentiontothesky.com/2010/01/19/christian-marriage-and-virginity/

Hope you like.

dj

 

[rjrjrj]

Thanks for your response, if anyone else would like to give their responses, you are welcome to do so.

 

[Benadam]

Faith was gaining great momentum among the people surrounding Jesus. Miracles were happening in such abundance that it must have seemed as if the Promises of the Messsianic age had taken a permanent hold on their lives. Indeed it had. They were tasting the substance of which assured John in prison when he asked 'are you him or are we to wait for another?" These folks had been emmersed into a timeless reality they wanted to remain in. Like someone granted a consolation from God not realizing it’s a foretaste of something that will require personal discipline to grow in. So Jesus lets them know that this life will require abandonment and surrender to things they cling to. " The foxes have holes and the birds have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head" " Anyone who puts hand to plough then looks back is not worthy" " let the dead bury their dead follow me"

Jesus loved Martha Mary and Lazarus and was responding to the grief common to all of us when someone dies. Remember He had to deny them His presence untill eneough time had passed that they lost hope that even He could restore life to their brother. Jesus had compassion and felt their loss

That’s a brief summary of the way the story unfolds for me.

 

[spockrates]

In ancient Jewish culture, the bodies of the deceased were buried (or, more accurately, placed in a tomb where they would decompose until the bones were ready to bury). This was done as soon as practical, and usually within a day or two. So there would have been plenty of time for the man to bury his loved one and then follow Jesus.

What the man must have been saying, then, is that he needed time to morn the loss of his loved one, so he was likely making an excuse to not follow Christ. Jesus had asked him to follow Him. He said he could not because he needed time to morn. Our Lord was essentially telling the man, and those in the crowd around Himself, to not make excuses, and not put it off, but to make a decision.

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

(2 Corinthians 6:2)

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Many years ago I heard a priest explain that the man’s father had not died yet. He was asking to stay and support his father until the father died and was buried - maybe several years. I don’t know of any official support for this view; nor do I see any evidence against it.

 

[spockrates]

Many years ago I heard a priest explain that the man’s father had not died yet. He was asking to stay and support his father until the father died and was buried - maybe several years. I don’t know of any official support for this view; nor do I see any evidence against it.

Another good possibility and probable explanation, Joe!