When Stephen died, Luke tells us, "Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning." They mourned because death is bad. It is no friend. But they did not mourn without hope. Stephen was not given over to eternal death. Stephen's died confessing Jesus as Lord, and standing at the right hand of God. Jesus had conquered death. Still an enemy, it does not have the final say.
For those who are in Christ, death is no friend. But death ends. We may rightly mourn when a loved one dies. But we look beyond death to an eternity of joy, peace, and glorious life.
