SLEEPING IN CHRIST

Matthew 9:18-19 -- "While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live." Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. "

Matthew 9:23-25 -- "When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. "

What is death? It depends. Death is separation. Physical death -- death as we understand it -- is the separation of the spirit from our body. It is when the immortal part of us, the spark, the essence of life breathed into us through God, leaves the mortal and departs the plane of earth. Spiritual death -- the second death -- is separation of the spirit from God.

In this passage, Jesus is approached by a ruler, probaby the ruler of a synagogue. The ruler kneels before Jesus and tells him that his daughter has just died. He asks that Jesus come and put His hand on her so that she will live again. Jesus goes with the man and enters the home, where a grieving crowd has gathered. Jesus tells the crowd to leave because the girl was not dead but sleeping.

Now, what does Jesus mean by the terms "not dead" and "asleep?" It all goes back to your definition of dead. To Christ, to be asleep is to be physically dead only, to have your immortal spirit separated from your mortal body. We see Jesus using the same term in John 11:11, when He tells His disciples that Lazarus is "asleep," meaning physically dead. To be asleep, means that you can be awoken. It means that Christ can restore your spirit to your body, reviving you and making you physically alive once again.

On the other hand, to be dead is to be dead, spiritually dead, totally and completely removed and separated from the presence of God. This is what is termed as the "Second Death" in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 20:6). To be spiritually dead means that you can't be revived, you can't be made alive again. You have been judged and separated from the presence of God once and for all eternity. As it is written, "It is appointed for all men to die once, and after that to face the judgement" (Hebrews 9:27). If you physically die apart from Christ, then you are immediately in judgement and doomed to face spiritual death.

The little girl in this passage was asleep and not dead. This probably implies that she had faith in Jesus as Messiah or that she was living under the covenant of faith with her parents. We know that her father had faith. When he came to Jesus, he kneeled in worship and requested a miracle that only God could do, the raising of the dead. It was this faith, either held by the father in trust for his daughter or the faith of the daughter, that made her be "asleep" and not "dead" according to Jesus.

To know Christ as Lord and Savior, to trust in Him as the Messiah, results in you falling asleep when you physically die and not being fully, spiritually dead. As Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, God will bring with Jesus those who have "fallen" asleep in Him. It is only those who are "asleep" who are truly alive.