O Death, Where is your sting? It’s Right Here.
by Joel Miles
One of my favorite songs to sing at church is “O Praise the Name.”
O Praise the Name of the Lord our God!
O Praise His name forevermore!
For endless days we will sing God’s praise,
O Lord, O Lord, Our God!”
Even writing those lyrics on this page nearly brought me to tears. I love how the song draws my heart to praise God for Jesus' victory over the grave on the cross. And for the salvation that those in Christ will enjoy with our King forever. It is a song that I believe we need to sing often right now! However, there is one line in the song that has always concerned me. It comes in the third and fourth lines of the third verse:
Then on the third at break of dawn,
The Son of heaven rose again.
O trampled death where is your sting?
The angels roar for Christ the King
I assume it is surprising that I find these lyrics concerning. What’s the problem?
The problem is not that I think these words are theologically incorrect. They are not. In fact, I believe these words are remarkably precise. But it is because of that precision that I get concerned. I am not convinced that we always understand exactly what we are saying and how significant it is for our current experience.
The third line that says, “O trampled death where is your sting?” is a quote from 1 Corinthians 15:55, which says,
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
This is a powerful verse that I often hear quoted at funerals as an expression of the hope and security we have through Jesus’ victory over the grave. I thank God when I hear it! But I also get concerned. Because, if we read 1 Corinthians 15:55 in context, we see that Paul does not actually think this is a proclamation that we can truly make yet. Paul says:
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
That has not happened yet. At least not for us. We are still perishable. We remain mortal. And the signs and implications of that reality are pressing in on us constantly. This is why I get concerned when we sing that line in our church services today or quote that verse at funerals. I am nervous that we think we already have that victory. We don’t. Which is why we hurt so much right now. And not just right now, but all the time. Funerals are painful. It is not because we lack faith or are bad Christians. It is because death has not been destroyed. At my grandparents’ funerals, and especially in the days that followed, I was in great despair. There were no feelings of victory. I had lost two of the people closest to me, and even now as I write this years later, I am struck with grief. Where is my victory?
My experience is not unique.
The day before I wrote this post, I spent time weeping on the phone with a woman in our congregation whose father is intubated from COVID-19. I spoke with a 30-year-old friend while he was receiving his first round of chemotherapy. I read an email concerning a congregant’s brother who was tragically killed in an accident last week. And I ended my day praying for another congregant whose father tragically passed away over the weekend. This pain will not go away soon. Many of you continually ache from the loss of loved ones, whether the loss occurred 10 days ago or 10 years ago. That is the sting of death. That is the result of the victory death still has in our world. “O Death, I feel your victory!”
One day, however, we won’t. One day every tear will be wiped away. And that is the point Paul is making in 1 Corinthians 15. In fact, Paul is saying we can be sure that day is coming. One day we will proclaim victory over the sting of death! How can we know that? Because Jesus had victory over the grave. Or as we sing in “O Praise the Name,”
Then on the third at break of dawn,
The Son of heaven rose again.
O trampled death where is your sting?
The angels roar for Christ the King
That victory song is very specific right now. At this point in history, it only truly applies to Jesus. Only Jesus knows what it is like to die but then rise again imperishable. Only Jesus’ close friends and family know what it is like to lose someone they love so dearly—to experience the overwhelming pain and mourning—and then to have their tears wiped away by His resurrection. But as Paul says, Jesus’ resurrection was the firstfruits of the resurrection we will all enjoy (1 Cor. 15:23). In other words, Jesus’ victorious resurrection is the first of its kind. He came back from the grave in the way He did so that one day we will too. We should so desperately long for that day.
During Pastor Jon’s Easter sermon on John 20:1–18, I kept thinking about Mary’s experience. Can you imagine what that would have been like? Imagine the emotions. One of the people I spoke to this past week about the death of a loved one, said through tears, “I just miss him so much.” I know that feeling. It’s awful. The day my grandfather died, I wept uncontrollably with my wife while saying the same thing. It is a feeling I do not want to have again or anyone I know to experience. It is a feeling I have often sought to comfort, but have always failed to find the words. Because there is no comfort for that feeling. Unless the person were to rise again.
Imagine what it would be like to have been Mary in that garden with Jesus. Imagine that pain reversed. Imagine what it would be like to no longer carry the weight of that grief. Imagine your tears being wiped away. That is what Mary experienced in the garden. One day, we will too!
Right now we are experiencing the sting of death. It is all around us. And as Christians, we should not feel any pressure to get over how hard this is. Yet in the midst of that weeping, we can still, and must, proclaim the victory and salvation that we will fully enjoy one day. Yes, Jesus has won. He is King now. But that victory will not be fully realized or experienced until he returns. For now, we weep. We wait. We hope. We ache with the pain of this world, but we do so longing for a day that we know is coming.
How can we know? Because:
Then on the third at break of dawn,
The Son of heaven rose again.
O trampled death where is your sting?
The angels roar for Christ the King
Christ rose again from the grave, and for those who knew Him, who loved Him, and were weeping for Him, their tears and their pain were wiped away. One day He will return, and that same resurrection will be experienced for all those who are in Christ. On that day, all those in Christ who weep today will weep no more. Today is not that day. But it is coming. And so we will wait for the Lord. We will wait for that day when the saying will come to pass for us all:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
Joel Miles is an Associate Pastor of Holy Trinity Church, where he has served for 6 years. He lives on the West Side of Chicago with his wife, Anna, and four children.