What Does Death Taste Like?

Jesus slumped over a large stone in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (AI Image)

Now that I lured the Dracula fans to click on this link, I must disappoint them because this blog is actually about Christians, Muslims, and Jesus.

“We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” (Heb. 2:9)

Muslims believe that Jesus was merely a prophet—albeit one who was born of a virgin, could do great miracles, and had a very unusual ending to his earthly life. Nevertheless, the idea that Jesus is anything other than a mortal man is considered blasphemy in Islam. In fact, associating partners with Allah, known as shirk in Arabic, constitutes the unpardonable sin according to Sura 4:116.

Radiance of the sun

As a Muslim-background Christian, Hebrews remains one of my favorite New Testament books. It teaches us at the outset about the relationship of the Son to the Father: “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Heb. 1:3).

Then comes the sticking point for Muslims: this glorious Son incarnated himself and became a man. This is the mystery of the incarnation, the Kenosis, or emptying, of God. For a while, the Son was even made a little lower than the angels.

Muslims struggle to understand why God would become a man. Wouldn’t that confuse things, especially since people tend to idolize others? American Idol, anyone?

Muslims also seem perplexed by the concept of God dying. I recall a guest speaker at our local mosque in the 1980s state that he had a question no pastor or priest could answer. He said Christians believe that Jesus is God and that Jesus died. Therefore, they would have to believe that God died. If God is eternal, how could he die?

This Islamic teacher actually later became a Christian! I asked him, “Did you find the answer to the question no pastor or priest could answer?” He smiled and agreed that the question was actually not too hard to answer!

If God is an all-powerful God, then He certainly could take on flesh if He wanted. This flesh could then experience physical death. In the same way that the souls of humans do not die when their hearts stop beating, God did not cease to exist when Jesus’ heart stopped beating on the Cross. His soul and spirit continued living, just as ours will when we experience physical death.

Orange life-saving device

As believers in Christ, we understand and appreciate that the Son came to this earth on a rescue mission. Lifeguards don’t live in the water, but they will dive in with urgency if they need to save someone. So it is with Jesus as He entered this earth as a man for a compassionate purpose.

Hebrews gives us another important part of the story of the Incarnation. As Hebrews 2:9 stated at the top of this blog, Jesus entered this world so that he might “taste death” for everyone. That is a fascinating description. We know from the story of Lazarus, that death has a smell—not a pleasant one either. But what does death taste like?

Colorful candy

I confess that I have a bit of a sweet tooth. My father, who is an Iranian doctor, often shares that when I was little, I asked, “Dad, why do all the things that are good for me taste bad, and all the things that are bad for me taste good?” Better to nip the sweet tooth in the bud, I would later learn.

Jesus on the cross

For us, Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, tasted death. He did not just think about it. He experienced it. The nails that pierced His hands and feet were not imaginary. They were real and not sanitized before use.

When we eat the bread and drink the cup during the Lord’s Supper, we connect with the One who tasted death for us!

Glory to the name of Jesus!