resurrection

Two Jews, Three After-lifes

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The other day I was struck by an article I’d read about the varied and changing views on the afterlife that Jews have held through the ages. It’s not new for believers of the same faith to believe many different things. Even in ancient times, this was the case. In fact, rabbis made debate a sport in their temples. Amongst the “laymen,” there were even more disagreement as some were not believers (aka culturally Jewish only) and some were not educated in the Torah to any great extent. One person in the article stated that there’s a old saying about the many views they hold on death: two Jews, three after-lifes.

In this article, there were many views, and one had written that they felt ancient Jews believed dust-to-dust meant that we cease existence entirely, at which point God forgets us. I didn’t believe that, but it hurt me for some strange reason. I started to wonder about afterlife in the Bible. I worried on the subject all day (as I’m a worrier).

Finally, I did what I should’ve done from the beginning, and I spoke to God (I’m a slow learner sometimes). The Holy Spirit spoke to me immediately as if He were waiting all day for me to listen. He said do you believe I’m a good God? Did you believe me the many times I said you are my children and I’m your father and I love you as a father in the Bible? Then, would you believe I would ever forget one of my children even willingly? Do you think I would not grieve them and miss them? Do you think that I, an omnipotent father, would not bring them back to my arms once I’ve readied a Safe place for them? Wouldn’t you as a mother? Even humans who are not as good as I nor as perfectly loving would do this. How much more I?

“…and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7

“In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am…” John 14:2

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement…” Hebrews 9:27

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die…” John 11:25

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out – those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” John 5:28-29

If you worry that, even if you are saved, you may die to live in a gray formless void (like Hades), burn in torment, or even subsist in a boring eternity of harps and fluffy clouds, why would you think God wouldn’t know your deepest needs and desires? He made you, and He would know how to give you more than you ever could wish or imagine.

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Luke 11:11

God bless!

Jesus Wept

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The shortest sentence in the Bible, at least in English translation, is the iconic, “Jesus Wept.” John 11:35

This phrase is encapsulated in the crux of the full Bible story. So, why did He cry, anyway? As always, let’s start at the beginning…

of mankind.

” – God has said,’You must not eat of it (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) or touch it, or you will die’ ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent told her.” Genesis 3:3-4

Spoiler alert: they ate it, and they died… eventually. Some speculate that since death is used as a term to indicate both spiritual and physical termination, they both experienced an immediate spiritual death. What is spiritual death? Separation from God. When they began to cover themselves and hide in order to avoid God as He walked through the garden, it was a sign the relationship they once had with Him was broken. What about physical death? Ah, many believe that humans were immortal before this time, and the spiritual death initiated the death process. In other words, the moment they betrayed God, Adam and Eve began to age, which would continue genetically through their descendants. As time went on, humans deteriorated faster and faster, living shorter and shorter lives. Either way, that snake lied.

So, what was God’s reaction to this betrayal? I’d venture to say sadness and definitely anger. He cursed all three of them vehemently in the following verses.

Why though? Didn’t He know what was going to happen?

Thousands of years later, when the Son of God walked among their descendants…

“Now a man named Lazarus was sick… When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”…

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days…

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:1-44

Some may be confused why Jesus would have cried at all, seeing as He was capable of raising Lazarus from the dead. He mourned not for Lazarus but for everyone else. He didn’t wish for them to be in such pain, and as Isaiah 53:4 states, “-surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrow.”

However, there was more than sadness expressed in these verses. Twice, it states that Jesus was “deeply moved” and “troubled,” which are the words ἐνεβριμήσατο and ἐτάραξεν respectively.

“Deeply moved” translates to “I snort as with indignation and anger.” Troubled translates to “agitated.” Now, anyone familiar with grief will find that it involves more than just sadness. Sometimes, anger, fear, and other emotions are combined. This phrase was repeated more than even the fact that Jesus was saddened. He was angry… but why?

Go back to the beginning, when Death was first introduced into the world. He’s angry that it exists. He’s angry that we have to grieve. He’s angry that our lives, spiritually and physically, are cut short due to the sins of this world. The reason this is such an important story concerning Jesus is because THIS IS WHAT HE’S HERE FOR. He’s here to make His followers believe in His divinity, His ability to save. He’s here to die so that we may live.

Our spiritual death was immediate in the Garden of Eden, but physical death was simply introduced into the human genome so that we would no longer physically live forever. When Jesus came to Earth, He saved many souls immediately and some bodies immediately. However, He wants to save everyone, eventually, in both ways. It is my belief that the seed of physical salvation has also been released into the world from Jesus, and it will come to fruition when the entire world has joined the Kingdom of God.

In the meantime, He grieves for what we must suffer.

Sources other than the Bible:
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/jesus-wept–2
Strong’s Concordance
https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_709.cfm
https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/adam-and-eve/why-didnt-adam-and-eve-die-the-instant-they-ate-the-fruit/

Blood & Water

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I hope you get more out of this weekend than bunnies and chocolate eggs. I hope you take more than a moment to recognize that what you’re celebrating is bittersweet.

As you may be aware, Jesus was in an exceptional amount of torment, physically and mentally, during his crucifixion. However, when the legionnaire lanced Him through the side (to ensure He died), blood and water came out. Medically, that means:

“- there was an escape of water fluid from the sac surrounding the heart, giving postmortem evidence that Our Lord died not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure (a broken heart) due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.” (CBN)

He died of a symbolically broken heart because of our sins.

Unlike Christmas’s proximity to His possible birth, Easter Sunday is probably very close to when Jesus actually died on the cross. Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover,which lasts seven days. He rose around Saturday night just as the weekly Sabbath ended. Let’s see how the Passover was a sign of God’s promise and yearly reminder of a savior He’d send to His people.

Long ago, in the Old Testament, Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians (much like God’s children are enslaved by the evils of this world before they’re saved). God sent a plague that ravaged Egypt, killing every first born except for those who smeared lamb’s blood on their doorways (the lamb symbolizing Jesus, of course). Those same families would be gathering inside their safe homes and eating the very first Passover meal, which was rife with symbols of both bitter times, mourning, and finally hope and renewal. It was a way to remember the past, put it behind them, and move on to a brighter future.

The next day, the Jews left Egypt en masse. After three days, the Pharaoh realized that they weren’t returning from their religious holiday and began to pursue them. It wasn’t long after that the Hebrews passed onto the other side of the parted Red Sea, not allowing their pursuers to follow them.Many years later, Jesus rose from His grave and saved His people from their own spiritual pursuers.

Forty years after they fled Egypt, the Jews crossed the Jordan River to enter into God’s Promised Land. This is the same river in which Jesus was baptized.

Please have a good weekend, but remember God’s great love for you, how He’d die for you, and most importantly how He lives again for you.

Many blessings.

Sources other than Bible:
https://www1.cbn.com/medical-view-of-the-crucifixion-of-jesus-christ
https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/jesus-wasnt-crucified-on-friday-or-resurrected-on-sunday-how-long-was-jesus-in-the