Death has its sting, Western society tries to avoid any realization of the limits of our lives. We try to cheat death, reverse the signs of aging, etc. The rituals of mourning like we see at the beginning of the Torah reading חיי שרה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18) are not only for those who survive but they also help us look forward to the resurrection, where we have our hope.

The Egyptians loaded up the burial site of the deceased with that they would need for the afterlife, including food, chariots, gold, etc. but the Jewish and Eastern Orthodox do not do these things at all.

In the Jewish community these societies are called chevra kadisha (Aramaic for “holy society”). The similarities between the Orthodox Jewish and Orthodox Christian burial process are very similar:

* Reading of the psalms in the presence of the deceased* Bathing the body and washing hair* Giving the deceased a final manicure, pedicure* Drying and styling the hair* Anointing the body with olive oil and essential oils* Dressing the body in their “Sunday best” — dress the person as though they are being prepared to meet the King, because in reality, that is the next thing that will happen to them.

Baptized for the dead

We see in 1Cor. 15:13-32 New Testament justification for these respectful practices regarding the body of the recently deceased. When we are respectful with the final affairs of the dead, we are living out our faith of the resurrection. We are putting that faith into action.

“Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?”1Corinthians 15:29 NASB

The “baptism for the dead” is not an salvific act by one person for another. Rather as seen in the preserved tradition in Judaism, it is the bathing of the body of the deceased itself in preparation for burial (Acts 9:37; m.Shabbat 23:5). We are treating the person with respect because of the promise of and the hope in the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

We mourn and grieve the loss of companionship with our parents, siblings, friends and children. We have hope that the one who created us will resurrect all of us and that the separation, which seems permanent, is in fact, temporary and those compaionships will be restored.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”1Thessalonians 4:13–14 NASB

Death has no power over God. Rather, God is the one who has power over death, but as our culture has lost its faith in God, our world has also lost its hope. This is partly why practices such as cremation are so popular.

How many lives did Sarah live?

Jewish sages and rabbis noted on Genesis 23:1–2 that Sarah was one of a very few women’s whose age, death and burial were recorded in Scripture. Her age much have been recorded for a very important reason and generations of Jewish sages pondered the possible meaning of this piece of information.

Rabbi Akiva saw a parallel between Sarah’s 127-year life and the 127 provinces that Esther ruled as queen of Persia. He saw Sarah as “princess” of time and what happened in it, while Esther was a ruler over peoples and land.

The medieval sage Rashi riffed on the Hebrew construction of her age — “a hundred years and twenty ye...