City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. 16 For surely it is not with angels that he is concerned but with the descendants of Abraham.

Hebrews 2:14-16

Reflection

On June 4, 2024, I was at the end of an unknown respiratory illness. I had started feeling better and made the mistake of working too much and talking too much and my voice was just about gone. After dinner I had a coughing fit. I couldn’t stop coughing, so I coughed harder to try to stop coughing when suddenly my larynx spasmed. When it did, my throat closed, leaving me gasping for air. When the others around me saw I couldn’t breath, their eyes got as big as saucers. 

They told me later that they discussed doing the Heimlich maneuver, which wouldn’t have helped because the blockage was not food, but a larynx in full spasm. By this point, I was oblivious to what was going on around me because I realized no one could help. Finally, as suddenly as my larynx had gone into spasm, it relaxed and I could breath again. It all lasted about 60 seconds.

People can die from a spasm of the larynx, absent emergency medical treatment, a tracheotomy, or the spasm ending on its own, as it did in my case. It was probably as close as I have ever consciously been to dying, and it was from something I had never heard of or knew could kill a person. Death is often an unannounced visitor.

As I read the scripture above, I could not help but think how fearful a proposition death is to those who do not know Jesus. Fear is a merciless master, and the fear of death is the most merciless of all. It lurks in the shadows, ever present, even in the times one feels most alive. It can demand inconsiderate acts of self-preservation and cause a heedless hedonism or paralyzing hypochondria. It can invade one’s solitude as well as one’s sleep. It can change how one lives. It is not surprising the Stoic philosopher Seneca said, “He who fears death will never do anything worthy of a man who is alive.”

Application

Christians though can thank Jesus, who by submitting to death destroyed its power over us. We can live with fearless abandon because we know death is no longer an end but a door into the eternal presence of God. We can live for Jesus and for others because the fear of death no longer demands our self-preservation. We can agree with confidence with the statement of the Apostle Paul, “O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?” (I Corinthians 15:55).

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for freeing me from the fear of death so that I might truly live. Amen.