“‘Our friend LAZARUS HAS FALLEN ASLEEP; but I am going there to wake him up.’ His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, ‘LAZARUS IS DEAD.’”
—John 11:11-14.

Lazarus was in the early stages of decay, having been dead for four days before Jesus arrived. But when the Son of God came to the tomb, He proved that it is as easy for God to raise the dead as for us to awaken a sleeping companion.

It’s a great comfort to know that our deceased loved ones are “asleep,” resting peacefully in Jesus. The tunnel of death, which we ourselves may someday pass through, is a quiet, peaceful sleep.

God’s way is the best way. Suppose that a godly mother were to go to heaven at death. According to some popular teachings she would be obliged to look down from heaven to this earth. If she had a wayward son, she might see him as a hopeless alcoholic, or as an addict dying of AIDS. Or, suppose that her husband had preceded her in death. As is commonly believed, if her husband had been a wicked man, she could look over into hell and see him tormented in the everlasting flames. Salvation in such circumstances might offer more pain than joy. Thank God that death is like a sound, tranquil sleep.