Some behaved like animals in fear and desperation and even mistreated fellow prisoners while there were others who chose to give even the last crumb of bread to a prisoner who was hungry though they themselves were hungry. Some walked bravely to their death as if they were offering their life for someone they loved, for others it was a fearful walk.

Jesus feared neither life nor death.  For him life was a mission and death was a home coming.  He often reminded his disciples "I have come to do the will of my father in heaven" (John 6:38). When at the point of death on the cross, his last words were "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46) indicating his returning to his father in heaven.

Some think of death as a return to the maker and a beginning of a life of eternity, for others it is an escape and an end to the sufferings of this world, for still others it seems as an obstruction to enjoying the fullness of life on earth.

The ones who enjoy a happy death are those who look at life as a mission and death as a home-coming.
A friend once asked preacher John Wesley "Suppose you knew that you were to die by midnight tomorrow, John. 

How would you spend your time until then?"  Wesley replied "I would spend it exactly as I expect to spend it now.  I would preach tonight in Glouchester.  I would get up early tomorrow morning and proceed to Twekesbury where I would preach in the afternoon, then go to Martin's house in the evening as they are expecting me. And then return home, put myself in my father's care, go to sleep and wake up in heaven".

What is your fear?  Fear of life or fear of death?  There is one fear that can take away both these fears-a reverential fear for god. With this reverential fear of god comes a conviction of his all-abiding presence in our life and his all-encompassing love waiting to receive us back into our eternal home. 

Jesus lived life to the fullest because he never broke his connection with god and with people.

He wept with those who wept, rejoiced with those who rejoiced.  You and I can find the fullness of life by maintaining that connection. 

Life and death matters; how we live our life will define how we will face death. Fear god, love life and think of death as the last joyful step into eternity.