Last week a couple of friends and I rode our motorcycles up to Walton Lake, in the heart of the Ochocos. The lake was closed, but on the route, and just prior to the Ochoco Ranger Station, is a cemetery of surprising size, especially for a remote, rural location. A couple of summers ago I walked through it, taking note of the number of graves, and taking time to read many of the grave markers. This old Crook County cemetery is called the Howard Cemetery and its oldest grave is dated from 1892. The Howard Cemetery, and indeed every graveyard is a reminder of an unavoidable appointment that awaits each of us.
One of the more unpleasant subjects to consider is the impending reality of death. It will come for one and all without regard for social status, ethnicity, preparedness, relative health, and age. Death is the great equalizer…all will experience it. Comedian Woody Allen attempted to bring humor to a serious subject by quipping, “I’m not afraid of dying, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” There is a natural aversion to death. We’ve all thought about it at one point or another. We all know it’s inevitability; we just don’t want to be there when it happens.
The big fear for most us is the unknown. Death is an alien interloper. For now, all we’ve known is life, and beyond the dark vale lies the unknown. We resist death because deep inside we know that death is not the way it’s supposed to be. This past week I was informed that a high-school classmate was nearing her death. A message sent by mutual friends, to notify those who knew her, that her death seemed imminent. I had seen her last year at a class reunion and there was no indication that less than a year later she would be gone.
It’s interesting to me that the Christian faith does not avoid talk about death. Early on in the Genesis narrative, that narrative that sets the stage for human history, death is introduced as both a reality and an enemy. God introduces death as an unwelcome stranger; the tragic result of man’s rebellious machinations. The result would be the certain demise of every living thing. The entire cosmos would be affected. It was only a matter of time.
The final word on death is seen in Bible’s narrative, found in Revelation where John writes of Jesus, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:4, ESV).” Death shall be no more. The unwelcome intruder will no longer have its sway.
Between the Genesis narrative and John’s pronouncement in Revelation 21 lies a story. In this account there is something to be learned about death. Luke 8 recounts a story told about a 12-year-old girl named Talitha. Talitha was the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue ruler. In the course of events, and we don’t know how, Talitha had died. As you can well imagine, and as a result of her death, folks had gathered to mourn her. There was great grief surrounding her death. The ethos of this story is strong. Most of us can empathize with losing someone very dear to us, particularly a young daughter. The pain would be beyond bearable.
However, in a twist of plot, Jesus, as the God-man. recognizing the tragic death of Talitha, does the impossible. He raises her from the dead. He intervenes in what has happened for thousands of years. He interrupts the inevitable. In Talitha, Jesus puts death to death.
What is seen in the Luke account is the in-breaking, or the interruption, that Jesus would bring into the natural course of events. In Talitha’s case, death would be arrested, taken captive, and death itself, put to death.
The lesson to be learned here is that Talitha wouldn’t be the last. Talitha would be a foretaste of what’s coming. Even John could see it in the distance as it approached. In Jesus’ own death and resurrection, Talitha would be a preview. Talitha would be the embodiment of a promise, secured by Jesus Himself. Talitha would be the assurance that a day will come when “…death shall be no more.”
When the Apostle Paul refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus, he says something very important regarding our mutual enemy, death. He writes to the
Corinthians, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:26, ESV). Paul saw death’s downfall, and that death would have no place in the future.
For now, we mourn. We see the cemetery. We grieve for loved ones now gone. We wrestle with our own finitude, but, be assured, death itself will die. Death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54 ESV).
- DJM
5/18/2026
