Paul is a true master to present this subject so well and with such charm. For no one else could have painted such a portrait. He took what the world considers dead and created a picture of life. He uses such ordinary and small objects – seeds and kernels in a field – to portray it. So when a person dies, we should not look at it any other way than as a seed planted in the ground. If the seed could see and feel what was happening, it would fear that it was ruined forever. But the farmer, if he could talk to the seed, would paint a much different picture. He would portray the seed as if it were already a growing plant with a beautiful stalk and tiny ears of grain.

So we must picture in our own hearts that when we are buried under the ground, we will come up again and grow into a new existence and everlasting life. We don’t have to think of ourselves as dead and decaying, but rather as planted. We must learn a new way of speaking about death and the grave. When we die, it doesn’t mean we are dead, but instead we are seeds planted for the coming summer. The cemetery is not a mound for the dead, but a field full of little seeds, which are called God’s seeds. They will one day blossom again and become more beautiful than anyone can imagine.

Martin Luther, By Faith Alone, World., p. January 15th.