Matthew 9:24

He said, Give place: for the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

Here, in the words of Jesus, of course, are the grounds for cavil; but it should be remembered that Christ said the same concerning Lazarus who had been dead and buried for four days (John 11:11). The actuality of death is not the point in either case, but the nature of death. IT IS A SLEEP. In death, as in sleep: (1) there is a loss of consciousness; (2) both are terminated, sleep by awakening, and death in the resurrection; (3) there is a rejuvenation or rebuilding of powers during the period of waiting; or, more properly, both are followed by an IMPROVED state of the person; (4) there is no total destruction and loss of the person in either case; (5) and there is no loss of personality or identity. Jesus thus gave an utterly new concept of death; and from that came the custom, universally observed among Christians, of writing "asleep in Jesus" upon the tombs of the departed.

The words "And they laughed him to scorn" should be read in close connection with what immediately followed and is recorded in the next verse.