The Shepherd, August 2004
The Glory of the Mother of God, 2
Death as Sleep
WE ARE CELEBRATING the Dormition of the Mother of God. But what does Dormition mean? The import of the word is to fall asleep, but among other things it is used to signify the end of the the Mother of God’s earthly life. And what does the use of the word Dormition in this particular way signify, and from whence was it derived?
In the Old Testament the end of life is called death. In general, when speaking of the Patriarchs, it says: he lived … and he died (Gen. 5:5 ff), Abraham died (Gen. 25:8), Samuel died (1 Kings / Sam. 25:1). The Patriarch Jacob uses an especially sad expression when speaking of his own death: I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning (Gen. 37:35).
But notice that the Saviour calls death falling asleep or repose: Our friend Lazarus sleepeth (John 11:11), He tells His disciples, when in the power of His Divine omniscience He announces to them the death of Lazarus; and when the disciples did not understand this expression, only then did the Lord clarify it for them: Lazarus is dead (v. 14).
In the writings of the Apostles we see the practice of calling death falling asleep or repose is confirmed. Thus the Apostle Paul wrote of those who had seen the Risen Lord with their own eyes, that the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:6, see also v. 18). He also writes with reference to the resurrection of the dead: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (v. 51), that is, we shall not all die because on the last day of the world there will still be some people living on earth, but we shall all be changed because those who are still living on the last day of the world, though they have never died and been buried, yet their bodies which have not experienced death will be instantaneously changed from corruptible ones into incorruptible, such as those of the people who have then risen from the dead.
The New Testament attitude towards death is cheerful, when compared to the Old Testament view of it, and this may be explained by the change in the human condition which was brought about by the redeeming sacrifice of the Saviour of the world. Were it not that we, from our first forebears onwards, were under sentence of death, and that every day that very sentence is confirmed by our arbitrary sins, were it not that we have been redeemed from that sentence of death by the passion and death of Christ, the Son of God, then temporal death would inexorably lead to eternal death without any hope of our awakening again unto the blessed life in God. But when Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8), when we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son (v.10), when God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, quickened us together with Christ (Eph. 2:4-5), when as a consequence of which in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22), and when they shall live in life eternal and blessedness, such as only life in Christ might be; then indeed death has actually been brought to an end by death and is changed into a sleep. This sleep is of a short duration compared with the eternal life that will follow; it is a peaceful sleep, being a rest from labours, the shedding of sorrows, a rest for the conscience wrought by Christ for the peacemakers; but this sleep is not unconscious, because though the body sleeps, the soul does not sleep, but is sweetly conscious as if foretasting the eternal blessedness.
From this we can grasp why in the Old Testament there was no such comforting and calming understanding of death. How from this? From the fact that, as the Apostle explains, then death reigned (Rom. 5:14), not yet conquered by the life-creating death of Christ, when the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest (Heb. 9:8), that means when the way into the holy of holies, which is heaven, had not been thrown open, whither now the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus (Heb. 6:20), but from which the Old Testament Patriarchs, prophets and righteous ones in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off … and embraced them (Heb. 11:13) were nonetheless excluded. For this reason the darkness of imminent death made a more powerful impression upon them than the then distant radiance of the resurrection.
Thus Christianity, by the very deed of renaming death sleep or as dormition, inspires us with the truth that just as that which falls asleep in the evening arises in the morning with renewed powers of life, so he who falls asleep in physical death will arise unto a new immortal life in the day of the general resurrection.
We must also not forget although the advantage of the New Testament condition of grace for mankind is open to all and may be achieved by all, yet is does not belong to us all simply because we live in New Testament times. There were people in those far off Old Testament times who, nonetheless, belonged according to the spirit to the New Testament. One such, for instance, was Abraham who, according to the word of the Lord Himself, rejoiced to see My (that is, Christ’s) day, and he saw it and was glad (John 8:56), and of course he inherited all those good things which have been made available to mankind in Christ. On the other hand, in the time of the New Testament grace, they may be people who, in their inner disposition, remain inimical to the grace-filled covenant of God, even if outwardly they are adorned with the name of Christian. The door of grace is open to all in Christ,Who said of Himself: I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved (John 10:9). But it is essential to enter in by this door, and one can only enter in thereat through faith in Christ, the Son of God, and through a living and active faith. I live by the faith of the Son of God (Gal. 2:20) says the Apostle. He who participated in the life which is graced through faith in Jesus Christ, and who maintains that life within, such a man even in the grave itself will not sleep unto death, but from the bed of corruption he will rise again unto incorruption, unto life, in heaven, in blessedness, in glory. But he who does not struggle to participate in the graced life in Christ lives the life of the old Adam, that is, he lives a life of sinfulness; such an one, even if there be signs of life, is actually submerged in an inner death, because sin … bringeth forth death (James 1:15); and then, if he does not turn and repent, he dies and undergoes visibly the death of sinners, which is evil (Ps. 33:21), and which inherits eternal torment. 
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