Cancer Blog #20
By Brian Zimmerman
Begun on July 31, 2021
Email: dyingman1@yahoo.com
My Dying Words
Entry #20
January 8, 2022
Revelation 21:4: “And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain…”
Death Is Not Always Positively Viewed
Why would there be a need to wipe away tears if the experience of death is to be viewed positively as I argued in the last entry? Because death is to be seen as positive by the dier (the person dying), but certainly wouldn’t be by the diee (the person left behind). The person dying has the joy and hope of being with the Lord before him, but the person left behind is now alone with no such immediate hope of departure. In fact, their mourning may involve more than just the loss of someone they love. It may be the loss of someone they need.
Comfort For the Loss of Someone We Love
But, as always, the scriptures address our deepest concerns. Let’s look first at how it helps to ease the suffering from the loss of someone we love. Paul in writing to the Greek believers in Thessalonica says these words: “13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers [and sisters,] about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest [of mankind do,] who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose [from the dead,] so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus…the dead in Christ will rise first…Therefore, comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 16, 18).
Paul obviously believes part of the reason for mourning is a feeling that death is final, that we’ll never again see someone such as our mate as death has won. But, Paul reassures us that our fear is unfounded. First, he uses the expression I discussed in a previous entry, viz., that those who died in Christ are only “asleep,” using Jesus’ euphemism for death. Death is only temporary and Jesus has the power to awaken us. There is no need to grieve as if we have no hope. We know that our loved one is in Jesus’ care and that we will see them again the day Jesus returns.
Help For the Loss of Someone We Need
But, there may be other reasons for mourning and grief. One prominent one in the NT is the loss of someone we need, which in the NT explains the special concern for the plight of the widow. Throughout the scriptures, God pronounces His special attention to the needs of widows and orphans, e.g., Deuteronomy 14:29 on the use of the tithe: “The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan, and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied in the order that the Lord may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.” Or, in Job’s discourse as he reports his submission and obedience to God’s law: “But, if I have kept the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail…” (Job 31:16). Or, this report of God’s care in the Psalms: “The Lord protects the strangers, He supports the fatherless and the widow, but He thwarts the way of the wicked” (Psalms 146:9). All these passages show that God expects His people to care for and support widows and orphans.
NT Concern for Widows
We can see this same concern in the NT as was expressed by law and deed in the OT. First and foremost is Jesus’ example: “…But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ From that hour, the disciple took her into his own household” (John 19:25-27). Jesus, while dying on the cross, once again fulfills His responsibility to obey perfectly the law of God, by ensuring that His mother’s ongoing provision will be met when He turns her care over to His best friend and disciple, John. Jesus had brothers and sisters as we see in elsewhere in the Gospels, but evidently felt that they couldn’t or wouldn’t care for Mary adequately. Of course this tradition of care for the widow continued on in the church as expressed by James: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress…” (James 1:27). One of the hallmarks of our faith is our care for widows and orphans.
Concern for the Widow Institutionalized
Further, we can deduce the importance of fulfilling this duty when we look at the book of Acts and see these words in chapter 6: “Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving food” (vs.1). The apostles provided a solution in vs.3: “…select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom we may put in charge of this task” (vs.3). We can see then that the primary impetus for what was likely the creation of the office of deacon was the need to insure the care of widows. The apostles saw the need to institutionalize the future fulfillment of this expectation of God.
I have discussed previously (in Entry #3) Paul’s further institutionalization of a way to meet the command for compassion for widows by directing that first the widow’s children should support her, but, if not, then the church should do so. He lays down specific requirements for the widow to qualify for such care from the church such as being of a certain age, and also apparently requiring a vow of celibacy (1 Timothy 5:11-12). That vow was probably for service to the church, possibly modelled on Anna’s role as described as a widow in the temple (Luke 2:36-37). Sadly, the Protestant church seems to have lost this focus on care for widows.
So, comfort for the diee comes first from knowing that the departed one, whom we love, is only asleep and will be awakened by Jesus, and, second, for widows and orphans who have lost someone they need, the assurance that God has a special concern for them, and that He expects His church to express that care and concern in a continuing way, which the apostles structured the church to do.
Next: Gratitude in deliverance from death by healing