⁴⁶ And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.

His name was Bob Neary…Bob owned and managed Neary’s Funeral Home in Manasquan back in the 80’s when I was a pastor at the Presbyterian Church where he was a member along with his family.  Bob dealt with death pretty much on a daily basis.  He would meet with grieving families to help them make the necessary funeral arrangements for their deceased loved one.  This is one of those professions which I have always seen more as a calling than a job.

Bob was part of our Thursday morning men’s prayer group.  We would gather for fellowship, study, and to pray for the needs brought to our attention each week.  One particular Thursday, we were praying for a family who had recently experienced the death of a love one. Surprisingly, Bob quipped, “It bugs me that people can’t just simply say so-and-so died…they didn’t lose anyone…they didn’t buy the farm…they died.”  Years later, the Thursday after Bob had died, we all gathered for our study and said with one accord, “Bob died.”

Bob would have been frustrated with the referenced scripture reading as our Lord describes His dying as committing His Spirit into the hands of His Father in Heaven.  Luke then says, “Having said this, He breathed His last.”

In other words, Jesus died.  And this is of critical importance for us as Christians because Jesus was our Sacrificial Lamb whose death became the propitiation[1] for all of our sin. But His death would have been of no consequence had the Father not raised Him from the dead on the third day.

Death and dying are issues we seldom discuss because it raises the issue of our own mortality. Woody Allen was quoted as saying, “It’s not that I’m afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”  Tim Hawkins has a very upbeat view of death.  Though comical, it demonstrates that death doesn’t have to be morbid and depressing.

As one who had the privilege of walking with families in one of the darkest times of their lives in dealing with the death of a loved one, I discovered some important truths:

1. When those who had died had made arrangements for their death care needs ahead of time, those grieving their loss were spared much of the trauma that can surround making those decisions when the death occurs.
2. Financial burdens surrounding a funeral are diminished because they had been taken care of previously.
3. Surviving family members would know that what their loved ones wanted in regards to their funerals had been prepared ahead of time.

Jesus knew He was going to die…He didn’t look forward to it, but He was prepared to face it as brutal as it was.  Many of us have had a loved one who died painful, at times, agonizing deaths.  Like Jesus, we all pray that we would be spared such trauma when our time comes to die. Those are not the times to be talking about funeral arrangements given the emotional climate that so often surrounds the death of a loved one.  Knowing that, one day, we will all be breathing our last, I would like to encourage you to talk with your loved ones about what you would like to have for your funeral…music, Scripture, message etc. What form of disposition do you want for your remains…traditional burial or cremation?  Where would you like to be buried or have your remains memorialized?  What would you like your epitaph to be?  Taking care of these issues ahead of time can be one of the most loving acts you can do for your family when you are no longer there to guide them.

[1]  "'The doctrine of the propitiation is precisely this that God loved the objects of His wrath so much that He gave His own Son to the end that He by His blood should make provision for the removal of this wrath... (John Murray, The Atonement, p.15)'"