"Death" is Separation from God

Homily for Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

During the first four weeks of Ordinary Time, cycle two of the Lectionary for Daily Mass, we will read a great portion of the Letter to the Hebrews. The Letter to the Hebrews was written to a discouraged community that had been through a lot. The author of this letter will reassure them that Jesus understands and is able to help those who are "being tested," because "he himself was tested through what he suffered."

Discouragement can come from many different perspectives. However, because this letter is most probably written to the Jewish-Christian community of Rome, the immediate source of discouragement would have been persecutions that were leveled against this community by the Romans. Though the first martyrs for the faith were living in Jerusalem, a large number of martyrs died in the Roman Circus Maximus during the reign of Emperor Nero. Many Christians endured horrible tortures and died as a result. In today’s passage from the Letter to the Hebrews, the author goes to great lengths to remind his readers that Jesus suffered death like all human beings will.

Whenever the subject of death comes up in the Scriptures, it is important that we remember that the writers are not necessarily speaking of ordinary human mortality. The biblical way of thinking about death was as “separation from” God. This goes back to the very first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis. You will remember that God punished Adam and Eve by expelling them from the Garden of Eden. In other words, they were no longer able to live with God who also dwelled in the garden. An angel with a flaming sword was positioned at the gate to the garden, often described as paradise, to block the way of anyone trying to enter. This separation from God was considered death. The punishment of original sin was not human mortality but rather separation from an association with our Creator. When Jesus died on the cross, he made it possible for all who place their faith in him to live forever with God, the true meaning of eternal or everlasting life.

Our human bodies will one day fail us all. The same is true of every creature that God has created. However, because of our faith in Jesus, we need not fear death for we know that we will continue to live with God in paradise. This was a source of encouragement for the martyrs of the early church, and it is also a source of encouragement for all of us. Jesus himself has suffered human mortality but lives now forever seated at the right hand of God. Those who believe will join him after our human life ends.