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"Death Like Yours" by Matt Rees: What Suffering with Christ Really Means


Have you ever grieved in secret while smiling on the outside? 

Matt Rees wrote “Death Like Yours” during a bachelor weekend, of all places. He’d just learned that a close friend and mentor of his would be leaving his church in the midst of a messy split, but he couldn’t say a word to the rest. So he was internally grieving while celebrating with friends on the outside. That night, in the quiet and feeling absolutely devastated, the words poured out: “Hollow me out on the inside, stick me with nails, rip me open wide.” Sure, that’s some pretty brutal imagery to express his grief, but it’s honest. 

Matt Rees - Death Like YoursSomething changed for him that night. Romans 6 suddenly felt personal instead of theoretical. The apostle Paul writes in this chapter that we’ve been “buried with him by baptism into death, in order that… we too might walk in newness of life.” Matt began to sense, in some small measure, what Christ endured… being misunderstood, stripped of everything, and nailed to wood. He emphasizes that his pain is nowhere comparable to the cross, but it gave him a window into it that he’d never had before. 

That’s the invitation Romans 6 extends to each of us. Your suffering isn’t wasted space. It’s not proof God has abandoned you. It’s the very place where union with Christ becomes real, where death gives way to resurrection life. So when your world cracks open and falls apart, ask the same question that Matt asks: “Is this what it feels like to die a death like Yours?” Let your pain draw you close to Him instead of away. 

What crisis are you carrying quietly right now? Bring it to God today! Don’t bury it! Hand it to Him, and trust that burial isn’t the end of your story. 

May this song walk with you through your pain. Press play, and let the lyrics become your prayer. “I have to put all my hopes in You.”

(Related scripture: Romans 6:4; Romans 6:8; Philippians 3:10)

Background:

“Death Like Yours” was written to the Lord in the midst of a life crisis. I was on the brink of the hardest decision I’d ever made. I was out for a bachelor weekend with some close friends, and I had just gotten word that a close friend and mentor of mine would be leaving our church in the midst of a messy split. I couldn’t tell any of the guys what I knew, as it wasn’t public yet, and I was internally grieving while celebrating on the outside. This one came in the middle of the night as I was holding all of my thoughts and feelings inside and absolutely devastated. I knew that this was the beginning of the end to all that I’d known.

The lyrics are of course influenced by Romans 6, where the Apostle Paul talks about our death and resurrection with Christ. Going through this experience seemed to bring this familiar passage to the forefront with brand new meaning. I could say that this was the first time I could say that I really suffered with Christ. I began to catch a glimpse of what it meant for Him to be misunderstood, to lose everything and for Him to die on a cross. I don’t mean to say that my emotional state was anything close to what He suffered, and yet I got just the smallest picture of what He suffered and could feel it more keenly than I ever had before.

The song is full of questions, and feels in many ways like a spiritual sequel to “Breaking,” which I wrote only a few months earlier. The pain I felt in that moment is fully captured in the verses penned for this song, and yet I hope that this song also captures the one hope we have in Christ. If we suffer with Christ, we will also be glorified with Him. Let’s put all of our hope in Him.

Release date: September 26, 2026

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