Experiencing death during lockdown

Last week, I received news that one of my colleagues at work had died. After a long illness, he was gone. I wouldn’t see him again; I wouldn’t work with him again. Based at home, I felt isolated and distant from my other colleagues. Usually, we would have grieved together, talked about our memories of him and taken comfort in each other’s presence. Not so easy to do via Zoom.

Sadly, many of us have experienced the heartache of grief during lockdown, and the almost unbearable experience of doing so alone. So, I simply offer you three occasions when Jesus came face to face with death.

Firstly, is the death of Lazarus, brother to Martha and Mary of Bethany, whose home Jesus used as a base when visiting Jerusalem. Lazarus was a dear friend; Jesus loved him and his sisters, and is “deeply moved” by his death and Martha’s profound grief at the tomb. John 11: 35 is the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept” in compassion for Martha as she mourns her brother.

The night before Jesus’s own death, gathered with his friends in the upper room, he spends time talking to them, to prepare them for what is to come. He comforts them, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” (John 14: 2).

Finally, as Jesus is dying on the cross, he reaches out to the man dying beside him who has asked for forgiveness. “Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Luke 23: 42–43). Faced by the stark reality of the crucifixion, Jesus reassures the man that death is not the end.

In just three fleeting images, we glimpse Jesus weeping alongside the one who is bereaved. We feel his concern for those who will mourn. And we experience him granting peace to the one who is dying, safe in the knowledge that he will do the same for us in our hour of need.

First written 6 March 2021