No Fear in Dying

Every graveyard in every town displays the harsh reality of life’s current crash course with death. We create bucket lists. We hoard. We’re taught to fight for what we want because, as they say, you only live once.

But what if death doesn’t hurt very long? What if it is true that you only live once and also true that this one life never truly ends?

Imagine seeing Lazarus rise from death and walk out of his tomb. Yes, it’s painful to know Jesus didn’t resurrect many others who had died. But with this singular act, Jesus is saying, “Hope in this eternal life you see me living. Hope in me. The Lazarus story will be everyone’s story once God finishes restoring creation.”

The BibleProject video shows how “eternal life” in Scripture also means “life unto the age,” referring to a quality or a way of life. One age leads to death. But the other age, lived on God’s terms, leads to life.

But everyone still dies, including those who choose to live on God’s terms. So is the way of eternal life actually possible for anyone?

Lazarus’ resurrection story says yes. Jesus is God’s own life become human so that both ages overlap in him, rendering death ultimately powerless. We are built to live in his same way, with both ages overlapping in us. Like Jesus, we’re most human and most alive when our will aligns with God’s. And in Christ, death becomes a temporary experience and, therefore, loses its sting.

Before this scene, Jesus said, “If anyone walks around at night, he stumbles because the light is not in him” (John 11:10). Assuming that death is our end blinds us to reality. Lazarus’ illuminating resurrection invites us to see death in a new light.

Bucket lists can go. Fear and urgency can relax. We can have a cup of coffee and catch our breath, finding calm in our connection to God’s own eternal life and love. Jesus shows us that death is a step in our journey, not the end. We are safe in him, and we are loved—forever—no matter what happens along the way to creation’s total renewal.

Reflection Questions

• How would it affect your perspective on life to think about death not as an end but as part of a journey that ultimately leads to a restored, healed life? Get practical. How would parenting change if you knew that death was no ultimate threat to you or your kids? How would your approach to sports, work, education, and everything else change if you saw death as one of many chapters and not the final chapter of life?
• One big question hovering around the Lazarus scene is why Lazarus was resurrected instead of the other dying people around him. Surely there were many sick and dying people around Jesus at the time, so why not heal everyone?
• How have you understood the idea of eternal life in the past, and how does that relate to the way the BibleProject video describes it?