Luke 8:52

‘And all were weeping, and bewailing her. But he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeps.” '

Meanwhile the professional mourners were going about their business, and all the relatives were joining in. It was in fact polite to make grief public and noisy. It was seen as expressing their love and concern for those who remained and for the one who died. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeps.” Compare here John 11:11. But had she really only been asleep He would not have excluded all but the three chosen disciples. His point here was rather that when He was present that was all death was, a sleep. Death is often spoken of in the New Testament as sleep for this reason. For those who die in Christ do not die, they only sleep (1 Thessalonians 4:13).