Jesus Leads Us Through Death
For many Christians, Psalm 23 is among their favorite passages of Scripture. In Psalm 23 David explains why the Lord is his most favorite shepherd and friend. The gospel accounts show us that Psalm 23 is all about the Lord Jesus Christ (see my previous post). Jesus is our Good Shepherd and Greatest Friend. Therefore, Psalm 23 is most fundamentally calling us to trust Jesus Christ as our most favorite shepherd and friend. Embedded in this biblical poem are four reasons to do so. Here, we will consider the second of those reasons. Jesus leads us through death.
Verse 4 of Psalm 23 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear now evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” According to this verse Jesus is the shepherd that leads his sheep through the valley of the shadow of death. Even through death he remains present with rod and staff. That is, he continues to protect and guide his sheep never forsaking them. There are two incredible observations worth making.
First, Jesus shepherds his sheep through death. You see, this makes Jesus the most unique shepherd or guide. All other guides can be with us all the way up to death valley but there they must stop and turn back. They can’t go any further, but not Jesus. He leads and protects through death. Second, Jesus leads his sheep through death’s shadow. You see, those who trust Jesus as their favorite shepherd only face death’s shadow. Jesus walks them through a death that is weakened, defeated, and powerless. How so?
The New Testament accounts of Jesus’s life, what we often refer to as the “gospels,” tell the story of Jesus’s death on the cross. On the cross, with our sin upon his shoulders, he took on Death’s best shot. He died physically. He was mercilessly beaten, nailed down, speared, and suffocated. He died socially. He was stripped naked, mocked, and humiliated. In a highly hierarchical society, Jesus died in a way not even slaves deserved. Finally, Jesus experienced a kind of spiritual death. Beaten and humiliated, Jesus calls out to God the Father whom he had known and loved for all eternity, but there was no answer. Silence. Like an unstoppable freight train, Death seems to have run roughshod over the Son of God. Jesus didn’t take on death’s shadow. He took on Death and all of its dimensions. However, what follows is why Jesus is the most unique shepherd.
He died, and was buried. But then, praise be to God, the Lord Jesus Christ walked out of that grave. He put Death to death. So you see, Jesus can lead us through death’s shadow because he took on the real thing and lived. If Jesus really got up, if he really walked out of the tomb, and if he really appeared to hundreds of people - and we believe he did - then everything is going to be okay. Whatever you’re worried about… Whatever you’re anxious or insecure about… whatever you’re grieving… Whatever is casting a long, dark shadow over your life… Its just the shadow. Trust Jesus as your favorite shepherd. He’s with you. One day our physical bodies will fail. Our neurons will stop firing. Our hearts will stop pumping. And Jesus will still be there and he will say us, “Child, I’m with you. It’s just a shadow. Everything is going to be okay.”
