No Need to Fear Death
"Behold, I am about to die."
GENESIS 48:21
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No Need to Fear Death
We are in death. We see that we die and breathe out our life, that the body decays and is consumed by worms. . .. But he who believes, as Jacob, full of confidence, here promises himself life, he regards death as nothing, because faith represents life as being very close and concludes as follows: "Although I die, yet I have been baptized, and I believe. Therefore I am alive and saved." . . . And we who believe have this beginning, that even when we feel death, we nevertheless do not fear it as others, who are tormented by an evil conscience and grow pale even when the word "death" is mentioned, feel it. But the godly and saintly martyrs despise death and laugh at it. . .. Therefore let us listen to the patriarch Jacob as he speaks of death as if he were speaking of sleep. For if you should ask him: "Why are you not terrified at the sight of death, Jacob?" he replies: "To be sure, I shall die and be buried in the tomb; but God lives. He has promised the land into which He will bring you back, but He will transfer me into another, far better land; for He has given His promise."
GENESIS 48:21
+
No Need to Fear Death
We are in death. We see that we die and breathe out our life, that the body decays and is consumed by worms. . .. But he who believes, as Jacob, full of confidence, here promises himself life, he regards death as nothing, because faith represents life as being very close and concludes as follows: "Although I die, yet I have been baptized, and I believe. Therefore I am alive and saved." . . . And we who believe have this beginning, that even when we feel death, we nevertheless do not fear it as others, who are tormented by an evil conscience and grow pale even when the word "death" is mentioned, feel it. But the godly and saintly martyrs despise death and laugh at it. . .. Therefore let us listen to the patriarch Jacob as he speaks of death as if he were speaking of sleep. For if you should ask him: "Why are you not terrified at the sight of death, Jacob?" he replies: "To be sure, I shall die and be buried in the tomb; but God lives. He has promised the land into which He will bring you back, but He will transfer me into another, far better land; for He has given His promise."
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