Length: 8 Minutes
As long as there is someone on this earth believing, as long as there’s someone in the situation full of the life of God, that person that “died,” is in fact not dead, but merely sleeping.
Jesus said something quite wonderful and very interesting about a little girl that had “died”. Pay close attention to this.
Mark 5:38-39 (NKJV) Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”
Jesus also said something very similar about Lazarus.
John 11:11 (NKJV) …and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
Jesus said about both of these people, that they were not dead but sleeping. In particular, regarding that little girl we just read about in Mark 5, Jesus very clearly says, “The child is not dead.”
Now, we know that it is impossible for Jesus to lie. We know that He’s always truthful and yet He just said about this child that she was not dead, even though she was lying there at a funeral. How can this be truthful? Hadn’t the little girl died? And yet, Jesus says she’s not dead, just sleeping.
I believe this interpretation to be sound.
For starters, what does death mean to most people? If you ask most people to describe it, what would they say? Well, most people would say that it’s the end of someone’s life. They would say that it’s a permanent state. If you’re religious, you might believe that it’s the permanent passing from one life to another, but you will see them again in Heaven one day. They would say it’s the thing that there’s no cure for.
I don’t believe that anything I just described is an exaggeration in any way. Even some of your most fanatic Christians believe some form of that. Even our dictionaries describe death in similar fashion. Yet none of that is accurate. And if that’s what death is, if that’s what death means to people, then that little girl lying at that funeral was not dead by any means. Neither was Lazarus. Neither are your friends or loved ones. They are not dead. They’re only sleeping.
You see, if people define death the way that I described (and they do), then your friends and loved ones have not actually died according to that definition. That is, as long as there is someone believing the Lord to raise them up.
If death is defined as the end of someone’s life, then that person has not died because it’s not the end of their life. They can come right back.
If death is the permanent passing from one life to another, then that person has not died because they have not permanently gone anywhere. Death is as easily fixable as the sniffles.
If death is the loss of someone you loved, then they’re not dead at all because you haven’t lost anyone. They can be raised right now. Yes, right now, in this moment, there is power from the finished work of Jesus to raise that person right back up.
Why did Jesus say that the little girl was not dead? Because she actually wasn’t, that is, if you define death the way those mourners, and most everyone else, defines it. That little girl had not permanently passed to another life. That was not the end of that little girl’s life. And if that’s what death meant to those mourners, then that little girl wasn’t dead. Jesus was fully accurate.
If you define death the way that the world, and most believers, define it, then the word sleep is actually far more relatable to what just happened. If death is a permanent passing and sleep is just a temporary unconsciousness, then “sleep” is far, far more accurate than the word death is. I believe that is why Jesus used the word sleep, instead of death.
The people He was speaking to (who were mourners at a funeral) fully believed that death was a permanent passing and loss of life. And according to that definition, the child was not dead. Therefore, Jesus told them so.
When Jesus said, “The child is not dead,” this was not some spiritual or figurative reality. He was talking about that little girl’s physical body. Her physical body was not dead, by the mourners’ definition. Her physical body had not undergone a permanent loss of life. In just the next few moments, she was right back on her feet having a meal with her parents. That’s a real thing. If death is defined as permanent, that girl was certainly not dead, in any sense of the word.
You see, a word is only worth as much as it means to the person you’re speaking to. If I’m in America and want some cookies, I could ask someone to pick up some cookies for me. If I’m in Great Britain, they say “biscuits.” So if I want some cookies, I would have to ask someone to pick up some “biscuits” for me. Why? Because biscuits means cookies in Great Britain. So if I want to be accurate, I wouldn’t say “cookies.”
And guess what? Death means something permanent to almost everyone, but sleep is temporary. So, if I want to be accurate by their definition, I would say “sleep” instead of “death.” Because death is not a permanent state, as long as there’s someone on this green earth to believe the Lord and raise somebody up.
In the confines of typical definitions, “sleep” is actually a more accurate definition of what had just happened to that little girl, then death was. Jesus was not going to use the word “death,” if clearly that word meant a permanent loss of life to the people He was speaking to.
Understand, I’m not saying that using the word death is wrong. Someone very well may have died. In fact, when Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus was sleeping and they misunderstood Him, thinking that Lazarus was just taking a usual nap, Jesus clarified and said that Lazarus was dead (John 11:14). So, it’s not wrong at all to use the word death. In fact, the Bible most commonly uses the word death. But when the Bible says “death” it does not define it as a permanent passing from one life to another. The Bible defines the word death, more akin to how the world (and most believers) would define the word sleep.
Even most people reading this article right now probably do not realize just how temporary and fleeting death is when someone believes. Think about this: Jesus said that the state of that little girl was more accurately defined by what the world calls “sleep,” then by what the world calls “death.” This should give you some insight into how fleeting and reversible He perceived the situation.
Those mourners saw a permanent loss of life in that little girl lying there, but that was entirely, scientifically inaccurate. That girl had not permanently lost her life — clearly evidenced by the fact that the girl was up and about, just moments later.
Jesus looked at that same little girl and knew that her unconsciousness was only temporary, and she could be easily woken up. That was a hard scientific fact about that little girl. Saying that she was sleeping wasn’t a coping mechanism by Jesus. It was the truth. And that girl got right back up, much like waking up from a nap, just as Jesus perceived she could.
This perfectly explains the huge discrepancy between Jesus’ reaction to the little girl and the mourners at that funeral. They wailed so deeply because they perceived the end of a child’s life. What a sad thing that would be… if it were true.
On the other hand, Jesus perceived the temporary unconsciousness of someone He could easily wake up. And therefore, He couldn’t understand what all the commotion was about. I’m not telling you to be insensitive to people, but when is the last time you heard someone at a funeral say, “What’s all the commotion about? They’re just sleeping.”
As stated before, perceiving death this way is not a coping mechanism. It’s just the truth. None of this is wishful thinking or unreasonable hopes. This is just the everyday gospel for those who believe. It’s nothing extraordinary amongst believers. It’s what we have on any given day. It’s the love wherewith Jesus has loved us at the cross. None of this is too good to be true. Actually, it’s your previous perception of death that isn’t true.
Concerning anyone in your life that has “died,” their body is truthfully not dead, by the world’s definition. They are only sleeping. And fortunate for us, we have the kiss of the Prince to wake them back up.
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