"Do not reprove me in your anger, LORD, nor punish me in your wrath. Have pity on me, LORD, for I am weak; Heal me, LORD, for my bones are shuddering." Psalm 6.
The imagination of some Christians is that, an angel of the Lord will come down from heaven to inform him/her that it was time to leave this world. This is a protestant Christian erroneous view that there will be a rapture, an occurrence where the good will be picked up to bliss and the evil will be left to suffering and gnashing of teeth. This protestant thought is taken from Luke chapter 17 vs 31 to 37, where Jesus spoke about the end of time. Reading these verses bring a reassuring feeling, that those of God will not see suffering or death. On the contrary Christ and all his disciples suffered the unbearable.
Although this has happened before in some special occurances when Enoch who walked with God all his life was taken away. Enoch did not see death. In a similar way it also happened to the prophet Elijah, who knew before hand that he was going to be taken away (2 kings 2) was carried off by a chariot of whirl wind and fire and did not see death. These instances have a reassurance effect and they prepare one to be fearless of death and illness because you have a glimpse of the outcome. It is a rare special treatment.
However, the book of the story of the origin of man stresses that man shall die a death because of the sin of pride. It is evident in scripture that men was created to live forever and not to know death, but when he fell, he lost the ever lasting life and was informed that he shall die a death. This is the advent of illness, accidents, homicides, suicides and anything that cause death. Of these causes of death the most common is illness which accounts for 92% of the world deaths according to the World Health Organisation.
The link between between illness and suffering to sin can be witnessed throughout scripture and this is what the israelites believed. When you are ill God is chastising you. In the book of Leviticus sin offerings are central to the Israelites and before man comes to stand in the presence of God with his prayers of reconciliation he should offer a holocaust to God. Therefore sacrifice was like a present offered to God followed by prayer, a reconcilliatory gesture of peace with God. This is our common practice to each other today, we buy flowers or a small present when we want to reconcile with those we love. It is also important to take into account the admonishing from Isaiah when he projected what the Lord said "I do not want your burnt offering but your heart".
This is also why Christ suffered and died for our sins, he took all our sins and suffered instead of us. Therefore in our illness if we remain in Christ he will endure all our suffering.
In (2 kings 20, 1) King Hezekiah of Judah was poorly when the prophet of the Lord informed him that he will not heal because he had sinned against the Lord. Hezekiah cried for life to the Lord and was penitent. The Lord heard his prayer and he was given an extension with the promise that he would still die after a few years. This is particularly important because death will always be there even when you have been spared this time around. Like Lazarus who was brought back from death, you will be sick and still die in the end. Therefore we ought to get ready our bodies as if we are going to die today and our spirit as if we shall never die.
It is important to note that from time immemorial believers knew that in God they do not die. We are able to see this in the book of Isaiah 26, 19 "Fresh life they shall have, Lord, that are thine in death; lost to us, they shall live again. Awake and utter your praises, you that dwell in the dust. The dew thou sendest, Lord, shall bring light to them; only the land of dead heroes thou wilt doom to overthrow". This is echoed by the prophet Daniel in chapter 12 verse 2 informing us that many that are dead shall wake up to enjoy everlasting life and others to disgrace. In the same train of thought the third son in 2 Macabees 7, 11 hopes for life after his death and the restoration of what he would have lost. He regarded his suffering as nothing and so should all who believe in the one who authors life.
The Pauline teaching in 1Corinthians 15:52 states that, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall rise again incorruptible. And we shall be changed. {15:53} For this corruptible must put on incorruption: and this mortal must put on immortality" . We can therefore as Christians take refuge in the belief that if we died in God we live again. Therefore we have no fear of illness and suffering or anything that threatens life for our life cannot be exterminated. We have the scripture on our side, the words of our Lord, the words of the apostles, tradition and the teachings of the church.
When the son of God graced the earth he revealed a different aproach to suffering and sickness that lead to death. We see this in the way he talked about his coming suffering and death. The son of man knew everything that was going to happen to him and how it would impact on his followers. He also knew that he would rise again and this is the basis of our faith. As Paul reiterates in 1 Thessalonians (4:13) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again: even so them who have slept, through Jesus, will God bring with him.
He strengthened, prayed and informed them of his coming victory over death and suffering. This had a minimal reassurance effect because the believers did not believe when the time of suffering came and they ran scared with fear of suffering and death. Others like Peter they denied the suffering Christ because it was gruesome. The apostles could not stand suffering before Jesus died. This is important because we see this today when we face illness and death we run from God and mould our own physical gods like baal. However when the apostles witnessed the resurrection they put away all fear because they saw and had a preview of the life after death. This is different to us because we did not witness the risen Christ or his ascension. Instead we seek help from fellow men when we fall sick and fall for lies and deception yet God wants us to be steadfast in trusting him. "He who believes in me will not die but live", says Christ to Mary and Martha. God's friends will not die, like Lazarus they will rise after death and live forever. John 14, 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
This is the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Martha informed our Lord and God of the death of his friend, Jesus replied by saying he will rise again. Lazarus had been ill for a while and Jesus did not want to prevent his death but he allowed it so that we may learn that he is the Lord of the living and the dead. In this chapter of the Bible Jesus wept. My personal view is that it was not the sorrow of the death of Lazarus but the sorrow of our unbelief. Our faith is limited to and can be hindered by illness and death, "had you been here Lord Lazarus would not have died" now he is dead and gone. But "I am the life and the resurrection he who dies in me will not die but live". This is the essence of the Christian faith. If you are a friend of Christ like Lazarus you will not die but live.
Now sickness can be daunting and scary it usually separates us from God if we do not understand why we are Christian and what Christians believe. This is important because it prepares us for the suffering we go through in life and the death that comes with it. Romans 14, 8 will resonate with this, whether we live we live unto the Lord whether we die we die unto the Lord.
As humans we have always been fearful of death and when this fear of suffering unto death grips us we even break up relationships, have conflict, blame others and in the end lose hope in Christ. However, as Christians we should take refuge in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, "he who believes in me will not die but live".
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