When Life Is Uphill - Pt 2

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV).

 

Perhaps the most uphill struggle of life is the death of a loved one. The grief experienced is universal. All of us have all tasted the bitter pain of saying good-bye to a loved one who has died. Maybe you have shed tears at the funeral of your spouse, or you have endured the unimaginable pain of burying a child. That walk through the valley of the shadow of death may have been last month or many years ago, but the ache never goes away. The bitter taste seems to ebb and flow, but never vanishes. Our reading today identifies our Lord as “the Father of all mercies, and the God of all comfort” (v. 3). We must explore that if we are to reach the view at the top of the mountain.

 

Unfortunately, people don’t always know what to do with those who mourn. Well-meaning folks may try to minimize the pain by using trite phrases or empty words. We might sentimentalize death or deny the finality of it. Jesus cautions us that denying our pain is a dead-end road that offers little comfort.

 

In Jesus’ kingdom, mourning is a reminder of comfort. Jesus himself, when confronted with the reality of the grave, wept (cf. John 11). He mourned. He grieved. He wept. And he grieves with us in the loss of a spouse, child, or other loved one. He stands alongside us in our pain, and he comforts us. The reason He is uniquely qualified for this ministry of comfort it that he came to shed his blood; He faced death squarely, submitted himself to it, and conquered it on our behalf.

 

Because he triumphed over death, we can be assured that one day we will live in a world without disease, mourning, or cemeteries. Knowing that Jesus has overpowered death offers us comfort when we mourn.