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IN MOST Christian churches, only ordained ministers qualify to bury the dead. This makes pastors appear to have exclusive duty from God to bury the dead or officiate burial services?
Churches that push this practice are clearly influenced by denominational traditions which have been handed by men. The Bible does not state categorically that only bishops or apostles should bury the dead.
Moreover, the Lord Christ Jesus did not command the Church to organize burial services for the dead in the first place. In fact, Scriptures do not tell us about a special burial service organized for Christ Himself when He was crucified.
The same may be said about John the Baptist, Stephen, Ananias and Sapphira.
The Jews in those days might have their own form of burial service, but a command to have burial services organised for the dead is rarely stated in Scripture.
And we know that when Christ Jesus died, one of His own disciples, Joseph of Arimathea, without any of the apostles took His body and buried it in his own prepared tomb (Matthew 27: 57-60).
Similarly, when John the Baptist died, his disciples took his body and buried it (Matthew 14:12).
Again when Stephen died, the Bible says devout men buried him (Acts 8:2) and finally when Ananias and Sapphira died, some young men buried them (Acts 5:6,10).
In all of these, there is no mention of the apostles or prophets of Christ burying the dead. This makes it clear that pastors do not have exclusive duty from God to bury the dead.
It must be pointed out that a person will not receive eternal salvation just because a bishop, and apostle or an ordained officiated his burial service and buried him.
By James Quansah
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James Quansah is the Executive Director of Christ-Conscious Leadership Centre (CLC) and lead Pastor of End-Time Christ’s Commissioners (ECC), Kumasi, Ghana. James is also a journalist by profession. He is married with four children.
