On October 5, 2019, Carmen Gonzalez was discharged from York Healthcare and Wellness Centre in Highland Park, California. Her short-term stay was very successful and she was released to go home. Shortly after that, her troubles began. Her prescriptions through Medicare and Medi-Cal were canceled, her Social Security benefits were cut off, and her bank account was quickly overdrawn. Gonzalez’ granddaughter, Doris Langoria, called the Social Security Administration to find out what had happened, and the clerk matter-of-factly announced, “Well, your grandmother is deceased.”

How can you prove to a government agency that you are alive? This has been going on for months and nobody has accepted responsibility for the foul-up. Social Security claimed that the home health center reported Mrs. Gonzalez to have died. York Healthcare denies that and claims that they have no role in reporting deaths to the Social Security Administration. Since no death certificate was ever issued, nobody has any documentation of her death—yet her benefits were instantly ended. Finally the Social Security office sent a letter stating that the error would be corrected and claimed the agency receives death reports from many sources: family members, funeral homes and financial institutions. One of the most frustrating things about this episode is that nobody will listen to Carmen Gonzalez; after all, she’s “dead.”

“When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, ‘Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up” (Matthew 9:23-25 NIV).

Writer Philip Yancey pointed out that one of the first things we ever learn about death is that it is irreversible. Once death occurs, people don’t recover. And that’s why the life and ministry and, especially, the death and resurrection of Jesus is so shocking. When Jesus came to one town, the death of a young girl was reversed. When He passed a funeral procession at the village of Nain, the funeral was canceled because the dead man came back to life. When He came to Lazarus’ tomb, He required them to open up and let the man out because he had been restored to life by Jesus. And when they crucified Him and left His body in a hole in the rock, nothing could stop Him from returning to life on the third day. It appears that death isn’t as final as it seems.

In fact, death is little more than a speed bump on our way to eternal life with Jesus Christ. He specifically told us that if we live and believe in Him, we will never die. Although this body of clay must breathe its last and lie down, the person who has been so much a part of the body must be imported into a new life. Those who have put their trust in Jesus, responding in faith to His offer of grace by obeying His call to repent and be baptized, will be united with Him beyond this life. And in that life to come, there is no death at all. That means that in reality, it is life that is final for those who have bound themselves to Jesus. In His presence, death itself is rolled back and banished.