The problem of pain
Never See Death
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Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
John 8:51 (ESV)
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A curious verse from Jesus.
We know that Jesus isn’t lying here, yet believers die every day.
What’s going on here?
The only way this is true is if He is talking about something other than physical death.
Which takes a lot of faith on our part, because physical death is such an integral part of our experience of life.
I remember reading C.S. Lewis’ book The Problem of Pain, which was essentially an essay on the intellectual & philosophical problems that “pain” brings for those who are not Christian.
Specifically, atheists.
We all hate death.
Yet it’s the most normal part of our human experience.
We all experience death.
For the atheist & the unbeliever, they must come up with a belief system that simultaneously accepts death as a normal reality and yet deal with the feeling we all have that…
Things ought not be this way.
What I’m saying is:
We all inherently feel -- we know in our hearts -- that pain & death are wrong. That the world is broken. That physical death ought not be real.
The great hope we Christians have is that Christ overcame death.
Not only that, but that He’s coming back to reset the universe, to fix this broken world, and bring His children into perfect, eternal union with Him.
Although…
Pay attention to the condition on this statement: “if anyone keeps my word.”
We must be obedient.
(The Holy Spirit helps us with that.)
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2026 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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