Cremation and resurrection

Pastor’s Note: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?…But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:12, 20-22

 

Greetings in the name of Jesus, our resurrected Savior,

 

Sometimes I am asked if there is anything wrong with cremation. This is actually a deeply involved question requiring more than a simple yes or no answer. Faithful Christians throughout time and across cultures have tended to avoid cremation. One reason is that whole body burial is seen as a final Christian witness to God’s promise of resurrection. God promises that just as Jesus Christ rose from the grave on the third day, we will be bodily resurrected when Jesus returns on the last day. 

 

Your body is not just a shell for your soul. God created us as fully physical and fully spiritual beings. This means your body IS who you are just as much as your soul is. Moreover, Christians have been blessed through baptism and faith with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” So, how you treat your body is important. This is true in life and in death. Caring for your body after death is part of how you can “glorify God in your body.”

 

One common concern with traditional burial is cost. Scripture teaches us that it is honorable to spend our time and money on care for the bodies of our deceases loved-ones. For example, we see that the only land that Abraham ever owned within the Promised Land was purchased to bury his wife Sarah (Genesis 23). This is where he, and his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob and their wives were buried. Jacob was embalmed down in Egypt (taking 40 days!), and after an additional 30 days of mourning, his body was taken up to the family burial place according to his wishes (Genesis 49:29—50:14).  

 

Likewise, when Jacob’s son Joseph died he made his family swear that they would take his body with them when they left Egypt to go back up into the Promised Land (Genesis 50:24-26, Hebrews 11:22). Hundreds of years later, Moses kept this promise when he led the Israelites out of captivity (Exodus 13:19). After leaving Egypt, it would take another 70 years before they finally laid Joseph to rest in Shechem, where his father Jacob had purchased land hundreds of years prior (Genesis 33:19, Joshua 24:32). That land became part of the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants. Talk about care and concern for the body of a loved one! But why all the fuss over care for the dead?  Well, as Christ reminds us when He speaks of the resurrection promise, God is not the God of the dead but of the living (Matthew 22:23-33). Those who die in faith are actually just resting in peace and will rise again unto eternal life.  

 

Great care was also given to the body of our Lord. In the days prior to His crucifixion, expensive ointment (worth nearly a year’s wages!) was poured over Jesus’ head and feet in preparation of His burial (Mark 14:3 ; John 12:3). Nicodemus brought about 75 pounds worth of myrrh and aloes, along with burial cloths to wrap the body of Jesus in the tomb. Finally, on the morning of His resurrection the women went to the tomb with even more ointment and spices that they had bought and prepared to care for Christ’s body (Luke 23:55—24:1). Clearly, Jesus’ loved-ones took great care to prepare and tend to His body in death. They spared no expense to care for Him and to reflect their conviction that there would be a day of resurrection for all people.

 

While cremation can be cheaper, it is an intentionally destructive process, first incinerating the body, and then grinding and pulverizing the large bones that remain after incineration. It has its origins in pagan burial customs that look at the body as just a shell for the spirit. This custom does not “look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” That being said, most Christians who choose cremation are not aware of this pagan connection, and look at cremation from a purely practical and financial perspective. Many faithful Christians simply do not consider the chief role our faith should have in making these decisions.  

 

On a pastoral note, if a loved-one has chosen cremation, please take heart in knowing God is certainly able to draw back together, re-form, raise, and glorify those whom He knit together in their mothers’ wombs (even from cremated and scattered remains). This article is not meant as an indictment against anyone. Rather, it is a pastoral word of guidance on a topic that can be very sensitive, confusing, and difficult to talk about. 

 

My advice regarding funeral planning is to have an open casket visitation with a Christian funeral service and a traditional burial, all of which act together as a final witness to our sure resurrection promise in Christ Jesus. It is important that we as Christians make our decisions in light of God’s promises to us in Christ. The eternally begotten Son of God, took on flesh to be born, live, die, and rise victorious over death and the grave for everybody. While the wages of sin is death, God’s forgiveness delivers us from death via the resurrection of the body, unto eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. 

 

Living Forever, Now, 

Pastor Grannis