We can now face death with such confidence that we can even talk back to it as Luther did when his precious Magdalene died. As both John McClean and Martin Luther declared in their own way: “Death, you are defeated, for the Author of Life has risen again from the grave!” And that means that all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will also live, even though they die (John 11:25-26).
One of the most anguished stories I’ve ever read was about what happened to Martin Luther’s daughter Magdalena. Barely fourteen years of age, she was stricken with the plague.
Broken-hearted, Luther knelt beside her bed and begged God to release her from the pain. When she had died and the carpenters were nailing down the lid of her coffin, Luther screamed out: “Hammer away! On doomsday she’ll rise again.”
A few years ago, Rev. Dr. John McClean, the Vice Principal at Christ College Sydney, tragically lost his sister to cancer. She was a young mum with three young children and, inspired by Luther’s words, this is how he started the sermon at her funeral (it is used with the author’s permission).
Dr. McClean said:
“Death, you must be pleased with your work, especially today. You’ve scored a great prize. You’ll be crowing, or cackling, or whatever your cry of triumph is.
It certainly looks like you won. You must be proud. You’ve torn Anne away from us and cut off so much promise. She had so more to do. She and her husband only had 16 years and had so many adventures still to come; she’d just started raising 3 great children;
her writing and research and teaching were blossoming; she had music to enjoy and friendships to grow and a house to create.
And instead, you — death — have given her two years of pain and now taken her away. You’ve turned the good and beautiful into a waste. We’re left wondering what it’s all for: if a life like Anne’s can just end. What’s left of her work and talents and love. As she watched the pictures before the service and heard about Anne’s life, we remembered all we lost. It hurts, we’re gutted. You’ve won.