Remembering the Saints and Laying Our Loved Ones to Rest in the Hope of the Resurrection
From Dr. Luther’s Lectures on Genesis (23:1–2):
“Consider how Abraham delivered a beautiful funeral address about Sarah. For in the Holy Scriptures no other matron is so distinguished. Her years, lives, conduct, and burial place are described. In the eyes of God, therefore, Sarah was an extraordinary jewel on whom extraordinary love was bestowed, and she is mentioned deservedly by Peter as an exemplar for all saintly wives. He says that she called Abraham lord and that ‘you are her daughters’ (1 Peter 3:6). To all Christian matrons Peter holds her up as a mother.
“Scripture has no comments even on the death of other matriarchs, just as it makes no mention of how many years Eve lived and of where she died. Of Rachel it is recorded that she died in childbirth (Gen. 35:16–19). All the other women it passes over and covers with silence, with the result that we have no knowledge of the death of Mary, the Mother of Christ. Sarah alone has this glory, that the definite number of her years, the time of her death, and the place of her burial are described. Therefore this is great praise and very sure proof that she was precious in the eyes of God.
“But these facts do not concern Sarah, who is already dead, as much as they concern us, who are still alive. For it is a very great comfort to hear that the departure and death of that most saintly matriarch and of all the fathers, in comparison with whom we are nothing, differs in no wise from our own death but was just as odious and ignominious as our own is. Their bodies were buried, consumed by worms, and hidden in the earth on account of their stench, not otherwise than if they had not been the corpses of saints; yet they were most saintly people, and, although departed, they are actually alive in Christ.
“Accordingly, these things are written for our sakes, in order that we may know that the most saintly fathers and mothers underwent the same experiences we are wont to undergo. Nevertheless, it is certain about them that in the eyes of God they live; and I believe that they — namely, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Adam, etc. — rose with Christ.
“And this seems to have been the reason why Abraham went to so much trouble about the burial, lest his dead Sarah be buried in a foreign land. Later we shall hear the same thing about Isaac. Thus Jacob and Joseph wanted to be buried in the land of Canaan, not in Egypt.
“This wish is proof that God implanted this sentiment in them, so that they desired and wanted to be buried in this land, which had been promised to them, with the sure hope that they would be raised with Christ. They wanted their burial place to be there, in order that they might repose not far from the Seed that would come; for Hebron is two or three miles distant from Jerusalem. Hence they undoubtedly rose with Christ for our comfort, lest we fear death when we see the horrible shape of our bodies after death.
“Those who have no hope of the future resurrection (1 Thess. 4:13) are not at all concerned about the future life. Nor do they think about it. But these things were written for us in order that we may remember how from the beginning of the world all the saints died and were reduced to the same stench and ashes, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:43: ‘It is sown in dishonor.’ They underwent the same corruption and dishonor notwithstanding the fact that they were saintly in the flesh and in the spirit.
“For thus it has pleased God to raise up from worms, from corruption, from the earth, which is totally putrid and full of stench, a body more beautiful than any flower, than balsam, than the sun itself and the stars.
“I am mentioning these things in order that the examples of these saints may influence us; for those who are weak in faith are affected more and are drawn more pleasantly, as it were, to comfort by these less important examples than by the example of Christ. Because Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah die in this way, the godly heart, though still weak, thinks: ‘Why should I object to or shudder at the lot common to all the saints?’
“For it is not so much their own weakness that catches the eyes of the weak as that horrible appearance of dead bodies. Therefore they think: ‘If I had such a body as Christ had, which death could not corrupt or worms consume, I would await the Last Day with greater courage.’ When the death of Christ is set before them as an example, it somehow does not seem to be a death, because He rose again on the third day. Hence the weak are affected and strengthened more when they see that the corruption of the bodies of the patriarchs is like our own corruption.
“But those who are stronger in their faith simply despise death and proudly scoff at and make sport of it. They say: ‘What is death? What is hell? Christ, God’s Son, died and was put under the Law. He overcame death by dying, and He restored life to us.’
“If we were so strong and could believe without any doubt that Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification and life (Rom. 4:25), no terror or fear would cling to us; for the death of Christ is a sort of Sacrament which assures us that our death is nothing. But the weak are affected more by examples than by a Sacrament, for because of the greatness of the Person of Christ it does not penetrate hearts so easily and persuade them to despise death.
“Therefore we cling to examples that are analogous, just as I myself sometimes take more pleasure in the example of Sarah than in that of Christ. The reason is the weakness of my faith. Sarah’s death has greater appeal and more comfort for me, since I know that she was a most saintly woman. Nevertheless, I hear that she dies, is buried, and is forgotten in such a shameful manner, as though she had been snatched from the sight not only of men but also of God and the angels. If this happened to her, I shall not be disturbed, even though the same thing happens to me.
“But those who have greater strength of heart and faith cherish this Sacrament [that is, the death and resurrection of Christ]; and because they believe that the Son of God died for them, they scoff at death and regard Satan and hell as a jest, in accordance with 1 Cor. 15:55: ‘O death, where is thy sting?’ and Col. 2:15: ‘He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in Himself.’ Here Paul is speaking very mockingly and disdainfully about death.
“The reason is that for Paul Christ is not only an example but also a Sacrament, which is richer and far more sublime than an example. For the Sacrament supplies in manifold ways and without limit whatever is lacking in the example. Sarah did not die for me; nor can she bestow life on me. But it is the majesty and importance of the Sacrament that it has life-giving power which will restore life to me in the resurrection of the dead.
“The example of Sarah is the rhetoric, as it were, which draws, arouses, and persuades us to despise death; but the Sacrament brings about and works in my body what was brought about in Abraham and many saints who were raised from the dead.
“Therefore examples should not be scorned, since the rhetoric they employ is pleasant; but because the example of Christ is at the same time a Sacrament, it is efficacious in us and not only teaches us, as do the examples of the fathers, but accomplishes what it teaches. It gives life, the resurrection, and deliverance from death.
“The examples of the saints teach that one has to die, and they persuade us to bear death with composure. Over and above this, however, Christ’s example says: ‘Arise. Be alive in death. Your putridity will become more radiant and more brilliant than the sun.’ For Christ’s example is a Sacrament which bears witness and makes us certain; it not only teaches or persuades but proves and demonstrates necessarily that Christ’s death imparts life to us.
“Therefore those who are weak and have fearful consciences are doing what is right when they set before themselves the examples of the saints, with which to sustain and gradually stir up their faith more and more. But then they should also remember this, that what is lacking in the example of Christ so far as physical disgrace is concerned (for He was not disgracefully putrefied and consumed) was amply made up for and fulfilled on the Cross and in the Garden” (Luther’s Works AE 4, 189–192).