Going to the cemetery in the hearse, I had a few minutes with an employee of the funeral home who was serving as the driver.  He offered his opinion that it was a disservice to children to use euphemisms at a funeral.  He thought it was fraudulent to tell youngsters that their grandfather now being carried to the cemetery was "asleep."  It would be better, he thought, to tell kids honestly that the man is dead.

Euphemisms are mild or vague expressions substituted for something thought to be harsh or blunt.  I told him he would have to argue his opinion with Jesus. 

John 11:11-12

Acts 7:60; 13:36

1 Corinthians 15:6, 18, 20

1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10

2 Peter 3:4

Euphemisms are not bad of themselves.  It is more polite, of course, to say "bathroom tissue" than "toilet paper" and much more kind to say "curvy" than "fat."  But the language of the Christian faith is not doublespeak.  We are not followers of someone who disguises or distorts the meaning of words to get disciples.

Jesus is the Master and heart of honesty.  When He preached the good news of the kingdom of God, Jesus did not use ambiguous or wooly clichés only meant to make people feel good.  He wanted us to understand the words He used and the names applied to himself.

For example, in Capernaum another one of these demons shows up.  This one shouts out, "You are the Son of God."

How can this be wrong?  On the surface, it isn't.  The problem is that people had muddied the meaning of the coming Messiah.  They were very fuzzy on what the coming Christ would be.  It was a popular idea that the Messiah would be a conquering king who would lead an earthly empire, take back territory from Rome, and that sort of thing.

Jesus knew that if His name was going to be used, it must be with clear meaning.  Before people could call him Messiah he had to teach them this didn't mean a king come to dominate the world but a suffering servant to atone for the sin of the world.

The Messiah wasn't coming to kill his enemies.  He was coming to die for them.  And that means really die.  Dead, dead on a cross! 

Jesus didn't swoon, faint, crumple or just fall asleep on the cross.  He died.  And we ought never to smooth over the dreadfulness of the cross with euphemistic words.  It was bloody awful. 

But in the same way, we are not to regard the glorious Word of the Gospel as anything sugar-coated or merely a varnish.  Jesus preached the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  These are not euphemisms.  He spoke of sin honestly.  He confronted evil and identified it for what it is.  He didn't allow bending of language to accommodate contemporary attitudes or to make preaching palatable.

For example, He meant exactly what He said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."  (John 11:25-26)  This is not some figure of speech.  It is the literal truth.

How blessed were those towns and synagogues of Judea where Jesus preached.  They received the straight goods just as you and I do when the unrestricted message of sins forgiven through the crucified and risen Jesus Christ (the theology of the cross) is declared in our Lutheran churches.

St. Peter said, "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ,,,"  (2 Peter 1:16 - The Epistle for this coming Transfiguration Sunday).  The apostles were no more charmers or illusionists than Jesus was.  They spoke by inspiration the plain, simple Word of God, and they spoke it clearly, without error, deception, or hedging.

You may therefore confidently rest on the Word of Christ ... right down to your closing hour when, in Christ, you will not die, but fall asleep to be awakened from your sleep on the day of resurrection. 

Not dead, but alive in Christ. 

We mean exactly that.