Jesus said that anyone who keeps His word would never see death. What does He mean? The Pharisees call out Jesus on this, and it seems like they have a point. Everyone dies. We are all subject to death. From Adam, through whom death was introduced into creation; through Abraham, and the patriarchs; through the prophets and kings, including king David. Everyone dies. They witnessed it during Jesus' ministry. They could point to David's tomb. So what was Jesus talking about?
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face the judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sin of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28).
It is indeed appointed for man to die once, and then to face the judgment. Men are subject to death because all men are sinners. Paul tells us plainly that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 5:12). In other words, death is what we have earned for our work of disobeyeing God. (Pieper, 1953) But don't forget that there are three kinds of death. There is the first death, the physical (or temporal) death. There is also a second death, the spiritual death. Physical death is the unnatural tearing apart of body and soul. Spiritual death results in the third kind, which is eternal death. (Pieper, 1953) Eternal death is the separation of the person, who is composed of that rational soul and human flesh combined, from God forever by being cast into hell.
At the time of physical death, body and soul are separated. This is something unnatural that was not intended to happen. The dust of the body returns to the ground. The body is buried and experiences decay. The spirit returns to God, who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The body "sleeps" while the soul goes to heaven to be with the Lord. Paul, writing to the Philippians, explains that his death is desirable to him, because it would mean that, though Paul would be physically dead, he would be with the Lord in the heavenly paradise. Paul wrote to the Philippians:
I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. (Philippians 1:23-24).
Jesus also promises the thief on the cross next to Him, not that he will be dormant in the grave, body and soul, until the judgment. He assures the man, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).
Jesus tells us that those who are in Him do not need to worry about the physical first death. This death could not hold Jesus. And, if we keep His word as He says, it will not hold us either. This is what Jesus meant when He said:
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28).
That one who can destroy both body and soul in hell is Jesus. And He would demonstrate His power over death when He rose from the dead after His death on the cross.
But Jesus actually does demonstrate His power over death before His resurrection. Jesus calls Himself the Resurrection and the Life. He has the power to bring back to life those whose souls and bodies have been torn apart by death. He did it for the widow's son; for Jairus' daughter; for Lazarus. Reversing physical death is short work for Immanuel, God with us, the One by whom all things were made. So we don't have to worry about physical death. Jesus will undo it. From our perspective, He has undone it by His cross and empty tomb. And if we don't have to worry about physical death, even if we have to experience it, we also don't have to worry about spiritual or eternal death.
Jesus saves us from the second death as well. In fact, that is the entire reason Jesus came to earth; the reason He took on flesh in the Virgin's womb; the reason He lived a sinless life, and went to the cross. He bore the guilt of our sin on the cross, paying the debt. He rose to life again for our justification.
Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) That is because in our baptism, Christ connects us to His death and resurrection. In baptism He gives us those things. We get the credit for His death; we get the promise of being raised to life in a resurrection like His.
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore baptized into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:3-5)
Indeed, baptism does now save us by the resurrection of Jesus. (1 Peter 3:18-22)
Martin Luther explains in the Small Catechism that all people will be raised and will stand before Christ on the Last Day. (Luther, 1986). Christians will rise to eternal life. Christ will transform their bodies to be like His glorious body, though God's word does not give a lot of information about what that will be like. People who do not believe in Jesus will be told to depart into the eternal fire. Believers will experience life everlasting. Unbelievers will experience everlasting death.
For the Christian, death has been transformed into a portal through which they pass into life. According to Pieper, the fear of God's wrath is what made death terrible. (Pieper, 1953) Since Christ has made atonement for sin, that fear disappears. Without having to fear God's wrath and punishment, the Christian can look at death as a slumber from which we will awaken at Christ's return and enter into eternal life.
That is what Jesus means when He says that those who keep His word will never taste death.
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Bibliography
Concordia Publishing House. 1986. "Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation." St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. Apostles' Creed: IV. The Resurrection of the Body, 187-189.
Pieper, Francis. 1953. "Christian Dogmatics, vol. 3 Temporal Death." St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
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