Sermon and Worship Resources

John 11:38-44 · Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 "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."

40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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."

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 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."

Saturday: The Week Of The Cross: Lazarus, Come Forth

John 11:1-7, 17-44

Sermon
by Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a guy riding in a cab one day. He was new to the city and was looking for a good place to eat, so he leaned forward, tapped the cabby on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Buddy." The driver let out a blood curdling scream and lost control of the cab. He nearly hit a bus, jumped the curb and stopped just inches from going through a huge plate-glass window and into a crowded restaurant.

For a few minutes, there was dead silence in the cab. All you could hear was two hearts beating like bass drums pounding out a quick march. The driver finally turned around and said, "Man, you scared the living daylights out of me."

The passenger, who was white as a sheet and whose eyes were as big as dinner plates, said, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize tapping you on the shoulder would scare you so badly."

The cabby said, "Well, it's not your fault. This is my first day driving a cab. But for the last 25 years, I drove a hearse." (1)

If I'd driven a hearse for 25 years and somebody tapped me on the shoulder, you can bet I'd have screamed like a little girl. I'm kind of goosey anyway. Just ask Mary or the staff. If I'm concentrating on something it's not hard to startle me.

To say that Mary, Martha, the Disciples and the mourners gathered at the grave Lazarus were startled, would be putting it mildly.

Today is the First Sunday in Lent. And today we begin a look at the Last Week of Jesus and the events traditionally associated with each day of the week as Jesus made that willing walk to the cross for our sakes. And today begins with what some traditions call Holy Saturday, the celebration of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

Let's look at the passage. John 11:1-7, 17-19, 30-44 (NRSV)
[1] Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
[2] Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.
[3] So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."
[4] But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
[5] Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,
[6] after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
[7] Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
[17] When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
[18] Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,
[19] and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.
[30] Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
[31] The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
[32] When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
[33] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.
[34] He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."
[35] Jesus began to weep.
[36] So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
[37] But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
[38] Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
[39] Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days."
[40] Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
[41] So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me.
[42] I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me."
[43] When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
[44] The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
[45] Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Many believed in Jesus. But the raising of Lazarus was the first step in making every religious group in Israel mad at Jesus. So mad, that they would forget their differences and plot His death.

I. For Them

A. Jesus didn't intentionally set out to make every religious group in the world mad at him that week, it just sort of fell that way with all the stuff he was trying to get across.

Not only that but as long as he was preaching in Galilee, he wasn't too much of a threat to the establishment. But the last week he sort of invaded their territory and when he did he became a threat. And so they triangulated on him. Those folks who would have been opposed to each other, crossed the line and for the sake of a common enemy put their differences aside and struck up a deal to get rid of this upstart, life changing, revolutionary. And the straw that pushed them over the edge was the raising of Lazarus.

Jesus couldn't have done anything more provocative to the Sadducees who didn't believe in a resurrection. They believed when you're dead, you're dead, that's it. Dust and worm dirt. That's all there was to life. And then Jesus had to go and raise Lazarus from the dead.

Lazarus was not only dead, as Jerry Clower used to say, he was graveyard, cold in the ground dead. His sisters knew that. They had visited the tomb to pay their proper respects and to mourn. And they knew what we all know, they discovered what we all discover: Death Stinks. They even told that to Jesus when he told them to roll the stone aside. "Good, Lord, do you know what kind of smell there's gonna be? He's been dead four days. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Everybody held or covered their noses. And that must have been a sight. Four or five husky men all trying to hold their nose while pushing the heavy stone sealing the tomb out of the way. And I bet they ran stumbling over each other to get away first with eyes water and the gag reflex taking over. But not Jesus. Not the Son of God. I picture Jesus silently praying. Looking around before He looks up and says: "Father, I know you always hear my prayers. But I want THEM to know You hear me."

And then Jesus proceeded to raise Lazarus with a shout loud enough to wake the dead.

B. The underlying message, the in your face message, the slap which the Sadducees and Pharisees felt and all of Israel heard was that God is in charge. No matter what happens, even death, God can reverse it if God chooses to do so. In the stark reality of the stench of death, life looked defeated. But through Christ, for whom and through whom everything that was and is and ever will be was created, death was defeated. Life was affirmed and the author of life, God, proved that God is ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE victorious and in charge.

And no matter what happens in the coming week, no matter what atrocity is visited upon His Son, God let it be known with a loud shout, loud enough to wake the dead, that God IS in Charge even over sin and death. Nothing and no one will stop God's Will and God's Redemption.

The only thing more powerful and provocative would have been Jesus' own death and Resurrection. Of course, they didn't know it yet, but that was just around the corner. You can almost hear Jesus thinking, "You think that was something, wait 'til you see what God's really got in store for you."

You see, Lazarus was raised from the dead to make a point. And the sad thing is that Lazarus would die once again. But we also know what happens in the final chapter. In dying, Lazarus would be raised from the dead and born into a new and more glorious life. Life eternal with Christ.

II. For Us

A. So what's the implication for us? I think there are about a billion things this passage teaches us but I want to lift two today. First, and I think this is hard for us to hear. First, just because you're a believer, just because you're a friend of Jesus doesn't mean you won't have trials and tribulations or get your heart broken from time to time.

I think it's important that we hear that because so much of pop culture Christianity leaves us with the notion that if you believe, I mean really believe, then nothing bad or horrible will ever happen to you. And if something bad happens it's because you didn't have enough faith. Well that's a crock. I have no idea how those who espouse this philosophy come up with it but Jesus very clearly states in John 16:33: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." NIV.

I think Jesus is pretty clear. We don't get a by, we don't get a pass, we don't get an exemption simply because we have faith and believe in Christ.

Life is hard. We tend to forget that because we have so many conveniences. We don't have to struggle for food or to cook the food. We have gas and electric stoves and microwaves. We don't have to cook over an open flame unless we want something grilled. In the midst of winter we have central heat and in the heat of summer we have air conditioning.

Traveling ten miles doesn't take half a day, unless you're stuck in rush hour traffic. Cross country mail gets there in three days, not three weeks. And email gets there in three minutes or less.

We tend to forget just how hard life really is until we face hard times. Until illness or loss of a job or loss of friends or family members suddenly invades our lives. When that happens, and they will, remember our faith doesn't exempt us from pain and sorrow. Our faith is what gets us through those hard times. Our faith is what heals our broken hearts and spirits.

B. It's then, in the midst of the heartache of the broken heart that we have to remember the Second point for us. Christ's message is still the same today as it was when He raised Lazarus from the dead. God is ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE victorious and in charge.

And when we trust Christ, when we fully put our trust in Him, then no matter what it is that entombs us, no matter what it is that has broken our heart, not matter how much heartache we have experienced, there is new life available for us. Like Lazarus, Jesus calls us to new life.

I ran across a very moving story. (Watch this) In 1871 a Christian lawyer from Chicago named Horatio Spafford lost his only son. A few months later he lost his entire life's saving when the Great Chicago Fire destroyed all of his real estate investments.

In 1873, he and his family decided to take a European vacation. But at the last minute he was delayed by business. He placed his wife and four daughters on the S.S. Ville de Havre sailing from New York to France. He fully expected to leave on another ship to join them in about three or four days.

On the evening of November 22, 1873, the Ville de Havre was suddenly struck by an iron sailing vessel, the Lochearn, and sank in twelve minutes. 226 people were killed.

Back in the United States Horatio Spafford was waiting for news of his family. After waiting for ten days, he received a six word telegram which read: "Saved alone. What shall I do?"

Filled with anguish, Spafford immediately left Chicago to bring his wife home. While sailing near the place where his daughters had died, he wrote the words to the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul."

In spite of the tragedy in their lives, neither Spafford or his wife, Anna, lost faith. Instead, it sustained them and it grew stronger. And in 1881, they moved to Jerusalem to meet the needs of the people there. And to become missionaries bringing the Good News of Christ's resurrection to the people in their care. (2)

Horatio Spafford was able to pen the words to that great hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul" and he and his wife were able to continue their lives of faith and serve in Jerusalme because they knew and believed that God is ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE victorious and in charge.

They heard the voice of Christ call them out of the tomb of their grief and into new life with Him.

Conclusion

Dr. James Moore tells the story about a young ministerial student who was working at his church as a summer intern a few years ago. It seems every Sunday in their Chapel they serve Holy Communion and it was this young man's turn to serve. He had never served Communion alone before and he was scared.

Back then they had the communion ritual printed on a laminated card. It started with the Invitation to Communion, followed by the Prayer of Confession and the Prayer of Consecration; and then just before the people would come forward to receive communion, the minister would stand, face the congregation and say, "Hear these words of comfort from the scriptures." They left a blank place on the communion card so the minister in charge could quote a favorite verse at that point.

When he got to this point in the service, the young ministerial student stood and said, "Hear these words of comfort from the scriptures..." And then he went absolutely blank. There was a long pause, and then he blurted out the only verse he could think of at the moment: "Jesus wept."

Later this ministerial student reported how awful he felt about it at first, but then how one of the members came down after the service and told him, "When you quoted that verse, 'Jesus wept,' that was so meaningful to me because it made me suddenly realize that… the Healer of our pain is the feeler of our pain!" (3)

Not only does Christ feel our pain and enter into our pain with us but he calls us to move beyond that pain as well. You see, Jesus knows that sometimes, our pain of heartbreak and disappointment can bind us just as tightly as the burial wrappings which bound Lazarus. Our sin and rebellion can do the same. But like Lazarus, Jesus calls us out of that tomb and into new life.

Our challenge is to hear Jesus' cry, "Come Forth." Our challenge is to let Him roll away the stone. Our challenge is to let Him enter in to take our pain. The call might be a bit startling in the midst of our comfortableness with life. But our challenge is to hear His call and take that first step into new life with Him.

1. Patricia Ridpath, Laughter the Best Medicine, Reader's Digest.

2. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), Feb 1984

3. James Moore

CSS Publishing Company, Inc., From the Pulpit, by Billy D. Strayhorn

Overview and Insights · Sign #7 — Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead (11:1–54)

Overview: Jesus was very close to Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary (11:5). When he hears that Lazarus is sick, Jesus declares that this sickness will not end in death but will serve to glorify God and his Son (11:1–4). In spite of the fearful protests of his disciples, Jesus returns to the vicinity of Jerusalem, but after a two-day delay, so that the coming miracle will encourage their faith even more (11:7–16). His time of earthly ministry is drawing to a close (11:9–10), yet Jesus is in control and knows what he must do before his hour arrives. When Jesus gets to Bethany four days after Lazarus has died, both sisters meet him—first Martha and later Mary—with the same lament: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died” (11:21, 32). Jesus tells Martha that Lazarus wi…

The Baker Bible Handbook by , Baker Publishing Group, 2016

John 11:38-44 · Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Commentary · Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

Lazarus was buried in a typical first-century stone tomb (cf. Jesus’s tomb, 20:1; Mark 15:46). Since these were designed for multiple burials, there would be no difficulty reopening it (11:39) if sufficient help was available. Again we are given a second confirmation that Lazarus is dead (11:39), this time in graphic terms. But this does not deter Jesus. As his feeding miracle demonstrated that he was the bread of life (6:35), and as his healing of the blind illustrated that he was the light of the world (8:12), so now he will prove that he is the resurrection and the life (11:25). All that Jesus does has one aim: to promote the glory of God (11:40). His audible prayer heard here (11:41–42; cf. 12:27) serves this purpose. Jesus is no miracle worker with simple powerful feats at his disposal. His deeds are signs that promote belief. They reveal something of God’s presence at work, and they illumine Christ as God’s divine agent. Burial cloths further confirm Lazarus’s death (11:44) and provide another parallel to Jesus’s burial (19:39–40; 20:5–7). The unusual reference to a face cloth appears only here and in 20:7. One interesting difference, however, is that Lazarus requires aid with his bindings—Jesus’s grave clothes are noticeably left behind.

The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary by Gary M. Burge, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

After a brief introduction setting the stage for the action (vv. 17–19), the drama of the raising of Lazarus unfolds in three scenes: one between Jesus and Martha providing a theological interpretation for the whole (vv. 20–27), one in which Jesus reacts to the sorrow of Mary and some Jews who came to mourn with her (vv. 28–37), and one at the tomb recounting the actual procedure by which Jesus raised Lazarus to life (vv. 38–44).

It is not certain how long the journey took from Bethany to Bethany. The purpose of the statement that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days (v. 17) is not to construct a chronology or to help fix the location of the puzzling Bethany east of the Jordan (cf. 1:28). If Lazarus died at about the time Jesus received word of his illness (v. 4), the journey (after a two-day wait) would have taken at least two days. If he died (as is more likely) at about the time Jesus said he had “fallen asleep” (v. 11), it would have taken longer. The purpose of mentioning the four days is to provide a backdrop for Martha’s comment in verse 39, and thus for Jesus’ dramatic encounter with the grim reality of death in verses 40–44.

The narrator is more interested in Bethany’s location in relation to Jerusalem (v. 18) than in relation to the other Bethany to the east. Part of the reason may be that he knows this distance and does not know the other, but more significantly, he wants to explain the presence there of some Jews from Jerusalem (v. 19) who will play a small yet crucial role in the story (cf. vv. 31, 33, 36–37, 45–46). The fact that their presence in Bethany needs to be explained (most of the townspeople of Bethany, after all, were Jews!) suggests that here, as frequently in this Gospel, religious authorities of some kind are meant. Because Bethany was as close to Jerusalem as it was, people from Jerusalem had come to join in the mourning, and among these were many of the religious leaders. Jesus’ arrival in Bethany is described like the visit of a conquering king, or in the way the early Christians later expected him to come gloriously to earth a second time in his Parousia (e.g., 1 Thess. 4:15–17; 1 Cor. 15:23; 51–57; like the returning Lord of Paul’s expectation, Jesus is coming to Bethany to raise the dead). It is a kind of triumphal entry told in advance, more private than public, in a small village instead of a great city. It is not so much an anticipation of the public entry into Jerusalem (12:12–19) as the beginning of the chain of events leading up to it. To Martha, Jesus was the Coming One (v. 27; cf. 6:14), and when she heard that Jesus was coming to her village and her own house she went out to meet him (v. 20), like a delegation sent to welcome and escort a victorious emperor into a city (cf. the language used of Jesus’ welcome into Jerusalem in 12:13, 18).

Martha’s greeting to Jesus (v. 21) recalls his delay in responding to her message. But despite its tone, the intent is not to accuse; even if Jesus had come at once, Lazarus would still be two days dead. Martha’s purpose (and Mary’s in v. 32) is rather to affirm her confidence in Jesus’ power to heal the sick. Even in the present tragic circumstances she does not exclude the possibility of a miracle, though she has no inkling what form it might take (v. 22; for a similar note of anticipation, cf. the remarks of Jesus’ mother in 2:5). What is clear to her is that Jesus’ power is the power of God; if he works a miracle, he must do so not on his own authority but on that of the Father (cf. 5:17, 19). Every miracle of Jesus finally comes down to a miracle of answered prayer (cf. 6:11; 9:31), whether the prayer is expressed verbally or not. In the case of Lazarus, the prayer is explicit. Jesus will ask that Lazarus be made alive, and God will grant it (cf. vv. 41–44).

When Jesus assures Martha that your brother will rise again (v. 23), he is in one breath expressing the common hope he shares with the Pharisees (e.g., Acts 23:6–8; 24:15; cf. John 5:28–29) and announcing what he will do that very day. Martha comprehends the former but not the latter. That her brother will rise again in the resurrection at the last day (v. 24) is something on which she and Jesus can agree. It is a genuine consolation, but it is not something she needed Jesus to tell her, and it does not cut the sorrow of the moment. Instead of addressing the death of Lazarus directly, Jesus speaks to the larger issue of the Jewish resurrection hope (vv. 25–26). Though he says nothing he has not said before in this Gospel (cf. 5:21, 24–26; 6:39–40, 44, 54; 8:51, 58), Jesus quickly does two things that address Martha’s immediate concern: He puts himself, and faith in him, squarely at the center of the resurrection hope, and he transforms that hope from a future, somewhat theoretical, expectation into a present experience of the very life of God.

The form of Jesus’ reply (vv. 25–26) resembles that of several other of his “I am” pronouncements, in which the “I am” with its predicate is followed by an invitation or promise, introduced by a relative or conditional clause or a participle (cf. 6:35; 8:12; 10:9). In this instance there are two predicates (I am the resurrection and [I am] the life, v. 25a) and two invitation/promises (he who believes in me will live, even though he dies, v. 25b; whoever lives and believes in me will never die, v. 26a). The first of these relative clauses (participles in Greek) explains “I am the resurrection”; the second explains “I am the life.” The meaning can be set forth as follows:

(a) I am the resurrection—that is, whoever believes in me will live, even though he or she dies.

(b) I am the life—that is, whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

The relation of the two parts is best understood when (b) is viewed as following logically from (a). If it is true that whoever believes in Jesus and dies (e.g., Lazarus) will live again, then it follows that no living believer will ever die—ultimately. The life they have been given is eternal life (cf. 3:16; 10:28). They may die physically, but death’s dominion is only temporary. Jesus will “raise them up at the last day” (6:39–40).

The distinctly Christian note here is that Jesus will raise them. He, in his own person, is the resurrection and therefore the life. Eternal life is a relationship to him. As long as Jesus is present, life is present, not simply the life breathed into humanity at the creation (cf. 1:4), but resurrection life, the new life that belongs to “the last day” and will never end.

Martha’s response to the pronouncement is entirely appropriate in centering on the person of Jesus (v. 27). This is true despite his lack of interest in titles (cf. 10:34–38) and despite the fact that he neither rebukes nor endorses her confession (he is similarly reserved about the confessions of Nathanael in 1:49, Peter in 6:69, and Thomas in 20:28). Martha acknowledges Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God in the context of his claim to be the giver of life; her explicit Yes, Lord to his question, Do you believe this? makes this clear. The narrator’s endorsement of her confession is seen in his use of the same two titles in stating the purpose for which the Gospel was written (20:31a). He wants his readers to join Martha in her testimony to Jesus, with the explicit intent “that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:31b). Though titles are not an end in themselves, they make sense when they display (as they do in Martha’s case) a recognition of Jesus’ deeds, and of his power and willingness to give life.

Thus Martha, the practical-minded but troubled hostess of Luke’s Gospel (cf. Luke 10:38–42), becomes in the Gospel of John both a woman of words and a woman of faith. Mary’s role, surprisingly, is but a faint echo of Martha’s (vv. 28–32). She had remained at home, in mourning, and came out to meet Jesus only when Martha came back to summon her (v. 28). Her first words on seeing Jesus duplicate exactly the words of Martha (v. 32; cf. v. 21), but without the added note of hopefulness (cf. v. 22). The narrator seems to know the same traditions about Mary and Martha that are known to Luke, for he portrays Mary always at Jesus’ feet (v. 32; cf. 12:3; Luke 10:39). But in the present account at least, hers is a secondary role. She is in the story mainly to weep, and this function she shares with the Jewish leaders who had come from Jerusalem (v. 31; cf. v. 19). The sight of her and these other Jews weeping aroused the emotions of Jesus—sorrow (v. 35), agitation, and (surprisingly) anger (vv. 33, 38). He was not angry at Mary and her fellow mourners for losing control (loud weeping was normal and expected in such situations), nor for their lack of faith in what he would do (for they had no way of knowing what that would be). Rather, he was angry at death, the Enemy who holds all human beings captive to uncleanness and shame (cf. Heb. 2:14–15). Death is not here personalized as the devil, yet the implicit conflict at the tomb of Lazarus is the same conflict with darkness and the “ruler of this world” that emerges in connection with Jesus’ own impending death (cf. 12:31; 13:2; 14:30). His anger recalls the anger he sometimes displays in the synoptic Gospels when he faces uncleanness (Mark 1:40–45) or drives out demons (Mark 9:19).

As Jesus proceeds to the tomb, his tears bring a mixed reaction from the Jewish leaders who had come to mourn with the two sisters. His strong emotion gives undeniable evidence of his love for Lazarus, yet there are those who question his power, or his willingness, or both, to have prevented his friend’s death (vv. 36–37). The momentary disagreement is a harbinger of a more serious division to come (cf. vv. 45–46).

The miracle itself is told briefly (vv. 38–44). No interpretive discourse follows because Martha has already been given the interpretation (vv. 25–26). Martha, accordingly, is the only witness singled out at the scene of the miracle itself. It is her remark that calls the reader’s attention to the stench and foulness of death (v. 39), and it is to her that Jesus renews his promise of the glory of God (v. 40; cf. v. 4). The promise is immediately fulfilled. When the stone blocking the entrance to the tomb is taken away (in spite of Martha’s warning), Jesus looks up to God in prayer. His prayer takes the form of a thanksgiving rather than a petition (cf. 6:11); his relationship to the Father is so close and intimate (cf. 10:38) that he knows his petitions are already answered and that Lazarus will come to life (vv. 41–42). He prays aloud, not because it is necessary, but so that the onlookers will know that he is not acting autonomously. He calls Lazarus by name, with an authority given him from the Father (cf. 5:21, 25–26). As soon as Jesus speaks, Lazarus hobbles from the tomb, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face (v. 44).

The almost ludicrous sight stands in sharp contrast to the description of the tomb of Jesus on the morning of his resurrection (cf. 20:5–7). The narrator knows (and emphasizes) the difference between the resurrection of Jesus and the resuscitation of Lazarus. Lazarus was raised from death only to die again. After the miracle, he would resume the same kind of life he had known before. Jesus, on the other hand, would be raised into a new existence in the presence of the Father and into a new relationship with his disciples. Never again would death touch him. Yet despite the contrast, the narrator uses the resuscitation of Lazarus as a “sign” (cf. 12:18) of the resurrection to new life, whether of Jesus or of those who belong to him.

In itself, the raising of Lazarus is not qualitatively different from Jesus’ other miracles of healing. A resuscitation is a kind of “superheating,” and the two instances in the synoptic Gospels in which Jesus raised the dead (i.e., Mark 5:35–43; Luke 7:11–17) are not singled out from his other healings for special attention. It is only as a sign that the raising of Lazarus stands supreme among Jesus’ miracles. But because John’s Gospel is interested in Jesus’ miracles precisely as signs of his glory (i.e., as expressions of his relationship to the Father), this miracle serves the narrator as the fitting conclusion and capstone to the series of signs that comprise Jesus’ public ministry.

Additional Notes

11:17 In the tomb for four days: Many commentators refer to a Jewish belief that for three days after death “the soul hovers over the body, intending to reenter it, but as soon as it sees its appearance change, it departs” (Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 18,1 [Midrash Rabbah (London: Soncino Press, 1961), vol. 4, p. 226]). Such a belief is not widely attested, but it was true that in the oral law, if a body was to be identified, it had to be identified within three days after death (on the theory that beyond that interval the physical changes produced by decay would be too extensive to permit certainty; the Mishnah, Yebamoth 16.3). It is doubtful that such discussions shed light on the present passage. If the intent was to underscore that Lazarus was truly dead, the detail seems both unnecessary (he was, after all, buried!) and confusing (was Jesus not really dead because he was raised within three days?). Rather, the intent is simply to prepare the reader for Jesus’ confrontation with death as decay and uncleanness in v. 39.

11:18 Less than two miles: lit., “about fifteen stadia.” See note on 6:19.

11:27 Who was to come into the world: Though technically correct (because from Martha’s standpoint the Son of God has now come), the translation is open to the misunderstanding that he was to come but did not. The intent of the construction (a present participle in Greek) is not to fix the time of the Messiah’s coming (as between present and future) but to define his character as a Coming One (i.e., one who invades this world and transforms it). A better translation might be the “Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.”

11:28 Aside: The need for privacy is shown by vv. 19 and 31. Because Martha wants Mary to have a moment alone with Jesus, she does not want the whole group of mourners present. But the privacy she seeks turns out to be impossible (v. 31).

The Teacher is here. Martha’s confessional language (v. 27) does not carry over into the words spoken to her sister. Between the two of them, Jesus is simply the Teacher, for they are his disciples. Teacher, like “Lord” (the term they use consistently in addressing Jesus) connotes both allegiance and respect (cf. 13:13).

Is asking for you; lit., “calls you.” Jesus’ words requesting that Mary be summoned are not recorded. It is possible that Martha regards vv. 25–26 as Jesus’ “call,” whether to herself, or Mary, or any believer. The same verb is used of the calling of Lazarus from the grave (12:17) and of the shepherd calling his sheep by name (10:3); the corresponding noun is used of the “voice” by which the Son of God calls the dead to life (5:25, 28; cf. 11:43). It is more likely, however, that Jesus’ request to see Mary had simply been omitted in vv. 20–27 in order to focus attention on Martha’s own encounter with Jesus and her momentous confession.

11:33 He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled: lit., “he became angry in his spirit, and shook himself.” The note of anger is suppressed in NIV, as in virtually all English translations, both here and in v. 38 (lit., “being angry once more within himself”), but the Greek verbs used unmistakably denote anger and agitation. Whether the agitation (or “shaking”) is physical as well as emotional is difficult to say; the active voice (“he shook himself”) suggests that it is. The anger seems to be on the inside, while the shaking or trembling is the outward expression of it. The first question an interpreter or translator should ask is not, Why would Jesus shake with anger? but, What do the words actually mean?

11:35 Jesus wept. The word for wept here is different from the word used for the weeping of Mary and the Jewish leaders. The latter (vv. 31, 33) means “wail” (like the customary wailing at a funeral of the time), whereas the word used of Jesus means simply “to shed tears.” That Jesus’ emotions were deep and genuine is shown by vv. 33 and 38.

11:37 He who opened the eyes of the blind man: Cf. 10:21. Following as it does on v. 36, the intent of this statement is to call into question the genuineness of Jesus’ love (i.e., the healing of the blind man proves he had the power to prevent his friend’s death; what must have been lacking was the willingness to do so).

11:40 Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? To what previous statement is Jesus referring? He had promised Martha that her brother would be raised to life (v. 23); he had also spoken to her about “believing” (vv. 25–26), and she had indeed “believed” (v. 27). But there had been no explicit promise of the glory of God. He had mentioned the glory of God in v. 4, but not to Martha.

An intriguing possibility is that verse 4 was not intended as a word spoken to the disciples who were with Jesus east of the Jordan, but actually as a response sent back to the sisters in answer to their message about Lazarus’ illness (v. 3). If so, verse 40 may refer specifically to verse 4. Though verse 4 is not explicitly said to be a message sent from a distance, neither is it said to be spoken to the disciples, and the disciples give no evidence of having heard it (contrast v. 7, where Jesus explicitly addresses “the disciples”). In any event, verses 4 and 40 are closely linked by the notion that the glory of God was displayed in the raising of Lazarus from the dead (cf. also the continuing vision promised to Jesus’ disciples according to 1:51).

11:44 Take off the grave clothes and let him go (lit., “loose him and let him go”). All three resuscitations in the Gospels end with a similarly warm human interest touch in which Jesus meets an additional, comparatively minor, need (cf. Mark 5:43; Luke 7:15). It is possible also that the release of Lazarus from the bands of cloth that bound him is intended to suggest the biblical imagery of “loosing” for victory over death and the powers of evil (e.g., Matt. 16:19; Luke 13:16; Acts 2:24; cf. John 8:32–36).

Understanding the Bible Commentary Series by J. Ramsey Michaels, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Dictionary

Direct Matches

Father

People in the Bible were family-centered and staunchly loyal to their kin. Families formed the foundation of society. The extended family was the source of people’s status in the community and provided the primary economic, educational, religious, and social interactions.

Marriage and divorce. Marriage in the ancient Near East was a contractual arrangement between two families, arranged by the bride’s father or a male representative. The bride’s family was paid a dowry, a “bride’s price.” Paying a dowry was not only an economic transaction but also an expression of family honor. Only the rich could afford multiple dowries. Thus, polygamy was minimal. The wedding itself was celebrated with a feast provided by the father of the groom.

The primary purpose for marriage in the ancient Near East was to produce a male heir to ensure care for the couple in their old age. The concept of inheritance was a key part of the marriage customs, especially with regard to passing along possessions and property.

Marriage among Jews in the NT era still tended to be endogamous; that is, Jews sought to marry close kin without committing incest violations (Lev. 18:6 17). A Jewish male certainly was expected to marry a Jew. Exogamy, marrying outside the remote kinship group, and certainly outside the ethnos, was understood as shaming God’s holiness. Thus, a Jew marrying a Gentile woman was not an option. The Romans did practice exogamy. For them, marrying outside one’s kinship group (not ethnos) was based predominantly on creating strategic alliances between families.

Greek and Roman law allowed both men and women to initiate divorce. In Jewish marriages, only the husband could initiate divorce proceedings. If a husband divorced his wife, he had to release her and repay the dowry. Divorce was common in cases of infertility (in particular if the woman had not provided male offspring). Ben Sira comments that barrenness in a woman is a cause of anxiety to the father (Sir. 42:9–10). Another reason for divorce was adultery (Exod. 20:14; Deut. 5:18). Jesus, though, taught a more restrictive use of divorce than the OT (Mark 10:1–12).

Children and parenting. Childbearing was considered representative of God’s blessing on a woman and her entire family, in particular her husband. In contrast to this blessing, barrenness brought shame on women, their families, and specifically their husbands.

Children were of low social status in society. Infant mortality was high. An estimated 60 percent of the children in the first-century Mediterranean society were dead by the age of sixteen.

Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean societies exhibited a parenting style based on their view of human nature as a mixture of good and evil tendencies. Parents relied on physical punishment to prevent evil tendencies from developing into evil deeds (Prov. 29:15). The main concern of parents was to socialize the children into family loyalty. Lack of such loyalty was punished (Lev. 20:9). At a very early stage children were taught to accept the total authority of the father. The rearing of girls was entirely the responsibility of the women. Girls were taught domestic roles and duties as soon as possible so that they could help with household tasks.

Family identity was used as a metaphor in ancient Israel to speak of fidelity, responsibility, judgment, and reconciliation. In the OT, the people of Israel often are described as children of God. In their overall relationship to God, the people of Israel are referred to in familial terms—sons and daughters, spouse, and firstborn (Exod. 4:22). God is addressed as the father of the people (Isa. 63:16; 64:8) and referred to as their mother (Isa. 49:14–17).

The church as the family of God. Throughout his ministry, Jesus called his disciples to follow him. This was a call to loyalty (Matt. 10:32–40; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26), a call to fictive kinship, the family of God (Matt. 12:48–50; Mark 3:33–35). Jesus’ declaration “On this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18) was preceded by the call to community. Entrance into the community was granted through adopting the values of the kingdom, belief, and the initiation rite of baptism (Matt. 10:37–39; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26, 57–63; John 1:12; 3:16; 10:27–29; Acts 2:38; 16:31–33; 17:30; Rom. 10:9). Jesus’ presence as the head of the community was eventually replaced by the promised Spirit (John 14:16–18). Through the Spirit, Jesus’ ministry continues in the community of his followers, God’s family—the church. See also Adoption.

Glory

The tangible presence of God, experienced as overwhelming power and splendor. The main Hebrew word referring to glory, kabod, has the root meaning “heavy” (1 Sam. 4:18), which in other contexts can mean “intense” (Exod. 9:3; NIV: “terrible”), “wealthy” (i.e., “heavy in possessions” [Gen. 13:2]), and “high reputation” (Gen. 34:19; NIV: “most honored”). When used of God, it refers to his person and his works. God reveals his glory to Israel and to Egypt at the crossing of the sea (Exod. 14:4, 17 19). He carefully reveals his glory to Moses after Israel’s sin with the golden calf in order to assure him that he will not abandon them (33:12–23).

In the NT the glory of God is made real in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14; Heb. 1:3). He is, after all, the very presence of God. When he returns on the clouds, he will fully reveal God’s glory (Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27).

Lazarus

(1) The brother of Mary and Martha and a resident of Bethany, his story is told in John 11:1 44, and he appears again in John 12:1–11 at a supper given in Jesus’ honor. Lazarus is described as one whom “Jesus loved,” prompting speculation that he is to be identified as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (cf. John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2–3, 8; 21:7, 20–24). When an illness led to Lazarus’s physical death, Jesus traveled to Bethany and grieved. Four days after Lazarus’s death, Jesus asked mourners to remove the tombstone, prayed, and called for Lazarus to come out. Miraculously restored to life, Lazarus emerged from the tomb still wrapped in his grave clothes.

(2) A beggar in one of Jesus’ parables (Luke 16:19–31). Generally, characters in parables are literary creations and remain unnamed. The naming of Lazarus may suggest that he was a historical figure, but it may also serve to emphasize the role reversal between the named Lazarus and the unnamed rich man, who overlooked him in life but sought his aid after death.

Linen

A type of cloth woven with fibers from the flax plant. Common in Palestine and known for its strength, coolness, and remarkable whiteness, linen served many uses, especially in the tabernacle (Exod. 25 28; 35–36; 38–39). Both wealthy and common people wore linen garments, but luxurious fine linens were worn by the rich (Isa. 3:23; Ezek. 16:10; Luke 16:19; Rev. 18:12, 16). In NT times, the Jews extensively used linen burial shrouds, as at Jesus’ burial (Matt. 27:59; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53; John 19:40; 20:5–7).

Martha

The sister of Mary and Lazarus, who lived in Bethany (John 11:1 2). In Luke 10:38–42 and John 12:1–8, Martha is depicted as interested only in preparing and serving food to her houseguest, Jesus. As such, she is contrasted with Mary, who spends her time with Jesus. In Luke 10 Martha even enlists Jesus’ help in requesting that Mary join her in completing the necessary work. Jesus, however, declares that Martha is “worried and upset about many things” (v. 41) and Mary’s actions are more desirable. In a separate account (John 11:1–44), Mary and Martha send word to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, is sick. Jesus delays the journey to Bethany in order to demonstrate the glory of God, which results in his raising Lazarus from the dead. Upon hearing of Jesus’ eventual arrival, Martha goes out to meet him and questions the timing of his journey. In their dialogue, Jesus confirms Martha’s faith in him (John 11:27), but before Jesus performs the miracle, she experiences doubt.

Stone

Rocks and stones were found naturally on the ground (Job 8:17; Ps. 91:12; Isa. 5:2; Mark 5:5; Luke 3:8). They could be heaped or piled up as a sign of disgrace (Josh. 7:26; 8:29; 2 Sam. 18:17), as a marker or memorial (Gen. 31:46 50), or as an altar (Exod. 20:25). A single rock or stone could also be used as a place marker (Gen. 28:22; 35:14, 20; 1 Sam. 7:12), especially standing stones (Deut. 27:2–8; Josh. 4:3–9). Large stones could also be used to cover a well (Gen. 29:2–3) or to seal a cave or tomb, such as at the tombs of Lazarus (John 11:38–39) and of Jesus (Matt. 27:60; Mark 16:3–4).

Stone was used as a construction material, particularly for the temple (1 Kings 5:15–18; 1 Chron. 2:22; Ezra 5:8; Hag. 2:15; Mark 13:1–2). Stone was used in a building’s foundation and for the cornerstone or capstone (1 Kings 5:17; Jer. 51:26; Isa. 28:16), as well as for the walls (Hab. 2:11). Psalm 118:22 refers metaphorically to the stone rejected by the builders becoming the cornerstone. In the NT, this is interpreted as referring to Jesus (Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:7; cf. Eph. 2:20). Stone could also function as a writing material (Josh. 8:32), such as the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed (Exod. 24:12; Deut. 9:9–11; 1 Kings 8:9; cf. 2 Cor. 3:3, 7). Stone was also carved, although at Sinai the Israelites are instructed not to use cut or “dressed” stones when constructing an altar (Exod. 20:25; cf. Josh. 8:31). The phrase “carved stone” refers specifically to idols, since stone was one material used for crafting false gods (Lev. 26:1; cf. Deut. 4:28; 29:17; 2 Kings 19:18; Isa. 37:19; Rev. 9:20); the term “stone” itself can therefore be used to refer to an idol, especially in the phrase “wood and stone” (Jer. 3:9; Ezek. 20:32).

Stones were used as a weapon or instrument of destruction, whether thrown by hand (Num. 35:17, 23) or flung with a sling (Judg. 20:16; 1 Sam. 17:40, 49–50; Prov. 26:8). The verb “to stone” refers to the throwing of stones at an individual, which typically functioned as an official manner of execution (Exod. 19:13; 21:28–29; Deut. 21:20–21; 1 Kings 21:13–15; John 8:5; Acts 7:58–59), although it was at times the action of an angry crowd (Exod. 17:4; 1 Kings 12:18; cf. John 8:59).

The phrases “precious stones” and “costly stones” refer to gems (2 Sam. 12:30; Esther 1:6; Isa. 54:12; 1 Cor. 3:12). Gems were used as a display of wealth or honor (1 Kings 10:2, 10–11; 2 Chron. 32:27; Ezek. 27:22) and for decoration (1 Chron. 3:6; Rev. 17:4; 18:16). The two stones on the high priest’s ephod and the twelve precious stones on his breastpiece represented the twelve tribes (Exod. 25:7; 28:9–12, 17–21), a symbolism echoed in the twelve types of precious stones adorning the foundations of the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:19–20).

Rocks and stones are used often in metaphors or similes (e.g., hard as a rock, still as a stone). They can represent something that is common (1 Kings 10:27; Job 5:23; Matt. 3:9; 4:3), strong (Job 6:12), hard (Job 38:30; 41:24), heavy (Exod. 15:5; Prov. 27:3), motionless (Exod. 15:16), or immovable (Zech. 12:3). A “heart of stone” describes coldheartedness (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26). A “stumbling stone,” which is literally a stone that causes one to stumble (Isa. 8:14), is used in the NT as a metaphor for an obstacle to faith in Jesus (Rom. 9:32–33; 1 Pet. 2:8).

Direct Matches

Burial

Burial can refer to the ritual, body preparation, or interment.

Burial rites. Genesis in particular uses some formulaic phrases: “died and was gathered to his people” and “rest with [one’s] fathers/ancestors” (25:8; 35:29; 47:30; 49:33; cf. Job 14:10). In Abraham’s death (Gen. 25:8), this “gathering” does not refer to his actual burial, since it occurs between his death and burial; nor was Abraham ever buried with his ancestors (cf. Num. 20:26 [Aaron]; Deut. 32:50 [Moses]). This idiom refers to joining one’s ancestors in the realm of the dead. With communal notions, the phrase also refers to elements of family burial (similarly, “gathered to your people” [Num. 27:13]; “gathered to their ancestors” [Judg. 2:10]).

In Jacob’s obituary he “gathered up” his feet and then was “gathered” to his people (Gen. 49:33 KJV), rich imagery because he had “gathered” his sons (cf. 49:1). This expression is also used of depositing the human remains in a collective family burial site (Judg. 2:10; 2 Kings 22:20; cf. Jer. 25:33).

In the genealogically sensitive books of Kings and Chronicles a formula is used for the kings: “X rested with his ancestors and was buried in Y.” Here, “Y” can denote a place such as the City of David (1 Kings 2:10; 11:43; 14:31; 2 Chron. 16:13–14). Authors depart from this formula in order to describe a person’s desecration, such as Jezebel; the dogs consumed her except for her skull, hands, and feet (2 Kings 9:37; cf. 1 Kings 21:23–24).

Jacob and Joseph receive specialized Egyptian embalming. Embalming preserved a more holistic persona through use of special fluids and wrappings for seventy days (Gen. 50:2–3, 26). Death usually required immediate burial, even for criminals (Deut. 21:1–9, 22–23; 1 Kings 13:24–30). Outside Israel, the inclusion of grave utensils (e.g., juglets, cooking pots, bowls, and jewelry) with the deceased was indicative of a person’s status and needs in the afterlife. The OT prophets forbade certain practices of mourning such as self-mutilation (Lev. 21:1–6; cf. Amos 6:6–7).

In the NT, burial could include treatment with spices for odorific and purification reasons (Luke 23:56; John 19:40). Placed on a bench (mishkab, “resting place”), the body was covered in wrappings and a special facecloth (John 11:44). Familial respect required demonstration of grief with laments (Acts 8:2; cf. 1 Kings 13:29–30; Jer. 9:17–22).

Specific locations. In the OT, burial occurred in cemeteries, shaft tombs, rock-hewn tombs, or natural caves. The wealthy procured burial sites for their posterity (Gen. 23:3–20). Middle and Late Bronze Age (2200–1200 BC) examples have been excavated at Jericho, Gibeon, and Hazor. In a process known as secondary burial, older remains were moved to a repository in the rear of the cave to clear room for a new corpse (cf. Matt. 8:21–22). Only Rachel was not buried in the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 35:19–20). Her “stone pillar” may be a rock cairn, in which the body is interred beneath a mound of stones. Well-known landmarks, such as trees, identified the graves of others (Gen. 35:8 [Deborah]; 1 Sam. 31:11–13 [Saul]).

Iron Age I sites (1200–1000 BC) could mark tribal territories (Judg. 8:32), like Joseph’s bones at Shechem (Josh. 24:32). Iron Age II sites (1000–586 BC) show the royal tombs of kings in their capitals or ancestral areas, be it a special garden or Samaria (2 Kings 21:18, 26; 13:13). An inscription was found along the Kidron naming the owner, Shebna (Isa. 22:15–16). Such tombs often included a charnel pit. Here, older bones were placed as more recent corpses were laid out on the bench above the pit. The poor usually were consigned to public cemeteries. The Hellenistic period (332–53 BC) saw the use of shaft tombs. With a sloping entry into a burial chamber, a shaft tomb often contained perpendicular niches (kokhim) for individual bodies. These tombs were common along the coastal plain and sites such as Dor, Gezer, and Lachish.

In the intertestamental period, elaborate structures, arcosolia, were built above or adjacent to the entry, such as Jason’s tomb in southwestern Jerusalem. The loculus was a second type with a central chamber and three sprawling kokhim. The Herodian period employed a strategic entrance guarded with a rolling stone four to five feet in diameter, like that used for Jesus. During the Roman period (37 BC–AD 367), stone sarcophagi (lit., “flesh eaters”) were used, and such have been excavated at Beth She’arim and Jerusalem. Later, bones were placed in ossuaries (boxes for bones) after the corpse had decayed in the burial niche.

Caves

In biblical times, caves were used for storage, as tombs (Gen. 23:9–20; 25:9; 49:29–32; 50:13; John 11:38), and as shelter for refugees, warriors, and outlaws (Gen. 19:30; Josh. 10:16–27; Judg. 6:2; 1 Sam. 13:6; 22:1; 24:3–10; 2 Sam. 23:13; 1 Kings 18:4, 13; 19:9, 13; 1 Chron. 11:15; Heb. 11:28). The word “cave” came to be used for a robbers’ den (Jer. 7:11; Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46), and in poetry the proud live in clefts of rock like eagles (Jer. 49:16; Obad. 1:3). But although God hid Moses in a cleft to protect him from divine glory (Exod. 33:22), caves, when God judges, will offer no escape from divine wrath (Isa. 2:19–21; Ezek. 33:27; Rev. 6:15).

Eye

The organ of visual perception. The eye is the lamp of the body, so that someone who has a sound or healthy eye can experience light, but someone with a deficient eye experiences only darkness (Matt. 6:22–23). Bright eyes signify alertness and good health (1 Sam. 14:27–29; Ps. 38:10), whereas dim eyes signify poor vision, often from old age (Gen. 27:1; 48:10; 1 Sam. 3:2). Blindness may be cured by opening the eyes (Isa. 35:5; John 9:14), although Paul was blind even with his eyes open (Acts 9:8). To lift or raise the eyes is to take a look around or look toward something (Gen. 13:10; 18:2; John 11:41). To turn the eyes from something is to no longer look at it (Ps. 119:37; Song 6:5; Isa. 22:4). Something hidden from the eyes is unknown (Num. 5:13; Job 28:21; Luke 19:42), but hiding the eyes from something is to ignore it (Isa. 1:15; Ezek. 22:26; cf. Lev. 20:4). The expression “before the eyes” signifies that an event has taken place in the presence of others, and they have witnessed it.

The eye is an important part of the body (1 Cor. 12:16–21). A defective eye disqualified a priest from certain duties (Lev. 21:17–20). A conquering army often gouged out the eyes of the defeated enemy (Judg. 16:21; 2 Kings 25:7), rendering them ineffective in battle (1 Sam. 11:2). Destroying Israel’s eyes is the first among many punishments listed for breaking God’s covenant (Lev. 26:16). Paul testifies that the Galatians cared enough for him even to pluck out their eyes in order to give them to him (Gal. 4:15). The importance of the eye highlights the importance of Jesus’ demand to pluck it out if it causes one to stumble (Matt. 5:29; 18:9).

Perception and enlightenment. Opening eyes is a theme that runs through both Testaments. At times, opening the eyes simply refers to making one aware of previously unknown information. It may be in this sense that the eyes of Adam and Eve are opened, since they become aware of their nakedness (Gen. 3:7). This same kind of opening occurs when God reveals a well to Hagar (Gen. 21:19), when Balaam sees the angel of the Lord standing in his way (Num. 22:31), and when the disciples on the road to Emmaus recognize Jesus (Luke 24:31). This sense is extended into the spiritual realm, so that the eye is used figuratively as the principal organ of spiritual perception. To open or enlighten the eyes in this sense involves one of the following: (1) allowing one to understand spiritual truth in the law of God (Ps. 119:18), prophetic utterance (Num. 24:3), or by the Spirit of God (Eph. 1:18); or (2) leading someone to repentance and conversion (Acts 26:18). These spiritual eyes may also be blinded or closed, hindering the person from repenting (Isa. 6:10; Matt. 13:13; cf. 2 Cor. 4:4).

The eye not only allows one to perceive the world but also helps others perceive the person. David has beautiful eyes, highlighting his handsome appearance (1 Sam. 16:12). Leah has weak eyes, a characteristic that is contrasted to the beautiful appearance of her sister, Rachel (Gen. 29:17). A bountiful eye reveals a generous spirit (Prov. 22:9). Haughty eyes reveal arrogance (Ps. 18:27; Prov. 6:17), as do eyes that are exalted (Ps. 131:1; Prov. 30:13). Eyes may reveal one’s pity for another (Ezek. 16:5), but in the administration of justice, the eye is not allowed to pity or spare, meaning that the law will be executed to its fullest extent (Deut. 7:16; Ezek. 5:11). The eye that mocks a father or a mother reveals a person who holds them in contempt (Prov. 30:17).

Direction and evaluation. The eye also serves as a symbol for direction, care, and vast knowledge. Since the eye allows one to see, it helps set the proper course forward, physically (Num. 10:31) or spiritually (1 John 2:11). The fact that God’s eyes are always upon the land of Israel demonstrates his care for it (Deut. 11:12). Likewise, his eyes are always upon the righteous, ready to help them (Ps. 34:15). Especially in apocalyptic literature, the many eyes of the living creatures are symbols of God’s omniscience (Ezek. 1:18; Rev. 4:6), while the eyes of God in general are symbols of his awareness (1 Kings 9:3; Jer. 32:19; Amos 9:8; Heb. 4:13).

Finally, the eyes are associated with evaluation. The eyes of God often represent his favor or disfavor (Gen. 6:8; Deut. 21:9; 2 Kings 10:30). Those who evaluate themselves in their own eyes are often led astray because the eyes can lead to sinful lust (Num. 15:39; Deut. 12:8; Judg. 17:6; Prov. 3:7; 1 John 2:16).

Laying on of Hands

Laying hands on someone/something has two literal uses and two with symbolic significance. (1) Literally, to take something (e.g., Exod. 22:8–11; Esther 9:10–16; Matt. 26:51; Luke 9:62) or someone—that is, to make an arrest (e.g., Neh. 13:21; Matt. 26:50; Mark 14:46; Luke 20:19; 21:12; 22:53; John 7:30, 44; Acts 4:3; 5:18; 12:1; 21:27). (2) Literally, to lay hands on persons (or things) so as to hurt or destroy them (e.g., Gen. 22:12; 37:22; 1 Sam. 22:17; 24:5–13; 26:9–23; Job 1:12; 9:33; Isa. 11:14; Jer. 15:6; Ezek. 39:21). (3) Laying a hand over one’s mouth as a symbolic gesture of amazement (Mic. 7:16) or humility (Job 40:4). (4) A gesture to symbolize the transfer of something from one person to another. Transfer symbolism applications include the transfer of representative identity in sacrificing (e.g., Exod. 29:10–19; Lev. 1:4; 16:21; Num. 8:10–12; 2 Chron. 29:23–24), of authority in commissioning (ordination) (e.g., Num. 27:18–23; Deut. 34:9; Acts 6:6; 13:3), of blessing (e.g., Gen. 48:13–20; Matt. 19:13–15), of life and health (e.g., Matt. 8:3, 15; 9:18, 25, 29; 20:34; Mark 6:5; 7:32–33; 8:22–26; 16:18; Luke 4:40; 7:14; 13:13; 22:51; Acts 8:17; 9:12, 17; 28:8), and of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifting (Acts 8:17–19; 9:17; 19:6; 1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6).

Three additional things should be noted about this transfer symbolism. First, the laying on of hands is symbolic rather than purely causative. This is evidenced when Jesus and the apostles credit faith, and not mere touch, for healings (e.g., Matt. 9:22, 29–30; Luke 17:19; Acts 3:12–16; 14:9; cf. Matt. 13:58), when healings occur from a distance (e.g., Matt. 8:5–13; 15:21–28; John 4:46–54) and/or with no apparent touch involved (e.g., Matt. 8:28–34; 9:1–8, 32–33; 12:22; 17:14–21; Mark 1:23–28; Luke 17:11–19; John 5:1–9; 11:1–44; Acts 5:15; 9:32–35, 40–41; 14:8–10; 16:18), when the Holy Spirit comes upon people without touch (e.g., Acts 10:44–45), and when Peter strongly rebukes Simon Magus for assuming that the Holy Spirit is dispensed by mere touch (Acts 8:17–24).

Second, the early church used the laying on of hands for commissioning church workers (Acts 6:6), missionaries (Acts 13:3), and elders (Acts 14:23 [the Greek word used for “appointing,” cheirotoneō, is derived from the words for “extend,” teinō, and “hand,” cheir; cf. 2 Cor. 8:19). Since the act was conducted by apostles (Acts 6:6), by prophets and teachers (Acts 13:1–3), by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:23; 2 Tim. 1:6), and by church elders (1 Tim. 4:14), we may conclude that the early church had no established hierarchy for ordination.

Third, the NT has some guidelines for commissioning Christian workers (cf. Heb. 6:2). Church leaders have weighty responsibilities (Acts 20:28; 1 Tim. 3:1–13; 5:17; Titus 1:5–9; 1 Pet. 5:1–4), so it is not surprising that a church elder/overseer must not be a recent convert (1 Tim. 3:6) or hastily ordained (1 Tim. 5:22), and that a deacon must first be tested (1 Tim. 3:10).

Lazarus

(1) The brother of Mary and Martha and a resident of Bethany, his story is told in John 11:1–44, and he appears again in John 12:1–11 at a supper given in Jesus’ honor. Lazarus is described as one whom “Jesus loved,” prompting speculation that he is to be identified as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (cf. John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2–3, 8; 21:7, 20–24). When an illness led to Lazarus’s physical death, Jesus traveled to Bethany and grieved. Four days after Lazarus’s death, Jesus asked mourners to remove the tombstone, prayed, and called for Lazarus to come out. Miraculously restored to life, Lazarus emerged from the tomb still wrapped in his grave clothes.

Later, Lazarus attended a banquet in honor of Jesus, where some were drawn to see him in addition to Jesus. Lazarus’s miraculous resurrection prompted many Jews to believe in Jesus. According to Eusebius, the tomb of Lazarus was a pilgrimage site for Christians in his day, and tradition about its location stems from an early date.

(2) A beggar in one of Jesus’ parables (Luke 16:19–31). Generally, characters in parables are literary creations and remain unnamed. The naming of Lazarus may suggest that he was a historical figure, but it may also serve to emphasize the role reversal between the named Lazarus and the unnamed rich man, who overlooked him in life but sought his aid after death.

Martha

The sister of Mary and Lazarus, who lived in Bethany (John 11:1–2). In Luke 10:38–42 and John 12:1–8, Martha is depicted as interested only in preparing and serving food to her houseguest, Jesus. As such, she is contrasted with Mary, who spends her time with Jesus. In Luke 10 Martha even enlists Jesus’ help in requesting that Mary join her in completing the necessary work. Jesus, however, declares that Martha is “worried and upset about many things” (v. 41) and Mary’s actions are more desirable. In a separate account (John 11:1–44), Mary and Martha send word to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, is sick. Jesus delays the journey to Bethany in order to demonstrate the glory of God, which results in his raising Lazarus from the dead. Upon hearing of Jesus’ eventual arrival, Martha goes out to meet him and questions the timing of his journey. In their dialogue, Jesus confirms Martha’s faith in him (John 11:27), but before Jesus performs the miracle, she experiences doubt.

Sister

Sisters play a major role in many OT narratives. Sarah was Abraham’s half sister (Gen. 20:12; marriage or intercourse with one’s half sister was later prohibited [Lev. 18:11; 20:17]). More than once he sought to protect himself in a cowardly way by presenting her as his sister, not mentioning that she was also his wife (Gen. 12:10–12; 20). Isaac repeated the sin of his father (Gen. 26). Jacob loved Rachel but was deceived by her father Laban into marrying her older sister Leah, initiating one of the most vicious sibling rivalries in the Bible. Miriam, the sister of Moses, was a prophet and an important leader in her own right (Exod. 15:20; but see Num. 12:1, when she challenged Moses’ authority). Amnon began a bitter feud with his half brother Absalom when Amnon raped Absalom’s sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13). Jeremiah and Ezekiel both depict the northern and southern kingdoms as unfaithful sisters (Jer. 3:6–10; Ezek. 23; cf. Ezek. 16).

Certain biblical stories indicate that sisters were protected by brothers rather than fathers. It is Laban who negotiates the terms of his sister Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac (Gen. 24). Dinah is avenged and defended by her brothers; Jacob does nothing (Gen. 34). Tamar comes under Absalom’s protection, not David’s (2 Sam. 13). In Song of Songs, it is the brothers, not the parents, who supervise the girl (1:6) and who discuss her protection until she comes of age (8:8–9), though she declares she is able to take care of herself (8:10).

In the NT, the most famous sisters are Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38–42), who mourn the death of their beloved brother, Lazarus (John 11). Throughout the NT, the members of the church are often referred to as “brothers and sisters” (e.g., Matt. 18:15; Acts 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:1; Phil. 4:8; James 1:2; 1 John 3:13; many modern Bible versions [such as GW, NIV, NLT, NRSV] translate the Greek term adelphoi as including both men and women), carrying on Jesus’ redefinition of the family: “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matt. 12:50). See also Brotherly Love; Brothers and Sisters, Jesus’.

Stone

A mineral cluster or rock. Although the terms “rock” and “stone” are occasionally used synonymously, “rock” usually refers to a large geological formation such as a cliff, cave, outcropping, or bedrock, while “stone” is preferred when the rock is small enough to be fashioned or handled by human beings. “Stone” can also function as an adjective, referring to a material made of stone, or as a verb, referring to the casting of stones.

Rocks and stones were found naturally on the ground (Job 8:17; Ps. 91:12; Isa. 5:2; Mark 5:5; Luke 3:8). They could be heaped or piled up as a sign of disgrace (Josh. 7:26; 8:29; 2 Sam. 18:17), as a marker or memorial (Gen. 31:46–50), or as an altar (Exod. 20:25). A single rock or stone could also be used as a place marker (Gen. 28:22; 35:14, 20; 1 Sam. 7:12), especially standing stones (Deut. 27:2–8; Josh. 4:3–9). Large stones could also be used to cover a well (Gen. 29:2–3) or to seal a cave or tomb, such as at the tombs of Lazarus (John 11:38–39) and of Jesus (Matt. 27:60; Mark 16:3–4).

Secondary Matches

The following suggestions occured because John 11:38-44 is mentioned in the definition.

Bible Texts

Bible Texts and Versions The NT and the OT have considerably different but partially overlapping textual histories. For clarity, it is best to begin with a survey of the NT manuscripts and versions.

Greek texts. Although no autographs of the NT books survive, there exist more than five thousand Greek texts covering anywhere from a portion of a few verses up to the complete NT. Traditionally, these texts have been classified into five groups: papyri, uncials, minuscules, lectionaries, and quotations in patristic texts. The most important manuscripts are listed below.

The earliest texts of the NT are those written on papyrus. Ninety-eight of these manuscripts have been identified, and they are represented by a “P” with a numerical superscript. The earliest of these papyri is P52, which contains parts of four verses in John 18 and dates to the early second century. For substantial portions of the NT text, the most important papyri are found in the Chester Beatty and Bodmer collections. P45, P46, and P47, all from the Chester Beatty collection, are from the third century and contain large sections of the four Gospels, eight of the Pauline Epistles, Hebrews, and Revelation. Within the Bodmer collection in Geneva are four very important codices. P66 dates to around AD 200 and preserves most of the Gospel of John. P72 dates to the third century and contains the earliest copies of 1–2 Peter and Jude, which are preserved in their entirety, as well as Greek translations of Pss. 33–34. P74 dates to the seventh century and contains portions of Acts, James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude. Finally, P75, which dates to the early third century, contains most of Luke and John 1–15. It is the oldest extant copy of Luke. Among the remaining papyri, forty-three have been dated to the early fourth century or before.

The second category of manuscripts is the uncials, which usually were written on parchment and span the fourth through the tenth centuries. About 270 uncials are known, and they range from a few verses up to complete copies of the NT or even the entire Bible. Uncials originally were denoted by capital letters, but when the number of manuscripts grew beyond these limits, a new system was employed whereby each manuscript was given a number always beginning with zero. However, the most important uncials are still usually known by their letter. Among the most important uncials are the following five manuscripts. Codex Sinaiticus (designated by the Hebrew letter à) dates to the fourth century and is the only uncial that contains the entire NT. It also has almost all of the OT as well as the early Christian writings the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas. Dating from the fifth century, Codex Alexandrinus (designated as A) contains the OT, most of the NT—lacking only portions of Matthew, John, and 2 Corinthians—and 1–2 Clement. Along with Sinaiticus, the most important uncial is Codex Vaticanus (designated as B), which dates to the fourth century. It contains almost all of the OT and the complete NT, except for substantial portions between Hebrews and Revelation. It has been in the Vatican’s library for over five hundred years. The fourth important uncial is Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (designated as D), which contains Greek and Latin copies of the four Gospels, most of Acts, and a few verses from 3 John. It dates from the late fourth or early fifth century. The fifth important uncial is Codex Washingtonianus (designated as W), which dates to the early fifth century and contains virtually all of the four Gospels.

The third category of NT manuscripts is minuscules. These texts date from the ninth century and later and comprise approximately 2,800 manuscripts, which are denoted by a number not beginning with zero. Among the more important minuscules are Codex 1, Codex 13, and Codex 33, which, along with their relatives, are considered reliable witnesses to early families of texts such as the Caesarean (1) or the Alexandrian (33). Codex 13 and its relatives are noteworthy for having the story of the adulterous woman at the end of Luke 21 instead of in John 8. The final two groups of NT manuscripts, the lectionaries and quotations in patristic sources, are not manuscripts in the strict sense of the term, but their use of portions of the NT presents important witnesses for the practice of textual criticism.

Versions. With the spread of Christianity during the time of the Roman Empire, the NT was translated into the language of the native peoples. These versions of the NT are important both for textual criticism of the NT and for the interpretive decisions that are reflected in how the text was rendered into a new language. Among the most important early versions of the NT are the following.

As Latin began to displace Greek as the dominant language of the empire, there was a need for a Latin version of the Bible. The earliest translation, known as the Old Latin or Itala, was made probably in the late second century, though the oldest manuscript (Codex Vercellensis) is from the fourth century. With the proliferation of Latin texts a standardized Latin translation became desirable, and in AD 382 Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damasus to provide a new translation known as the Vulgate.

Another family of NT versions is the Syriac texts. Around the late second century the four Gospels were translated into a version known as the Old Syriac. It is extant in two incomplete manuscripts that are probably fifth century. The translation that became the standard Syriac text is the Peshitta, which was produced in the early fifth century. It does not contain 2 Peter, 2–3 John, Jude, or Revelation because these were not considered canonical among the Syriac churches.

Other important versions of the NT from antiquity are the Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopic translations.

Old Testament

Hebrew texts. The text that has served as the basis for most modern editions and translations of the Hebrew OT is the Masoretic Text (MT), named after the Masoretes, the Jewish scribes who transmitted the text and added vocalization, accentuation, and notes to the consonantal text. The most important Masoretic manuscripts date from the end of the ninth century to the early eleventh century. Notable among these is the Leningrad Codex (AD 1008), denoted as L, which is the earliest Masoretic manuscript of the entire OT. Also important are the Aleppo Codex (c. AD 925), denoted as A, which preserves all of the OT except for most of the Pentateuch; the British Museum MS Or. 4445 (c. AD 925), denoted as B, which contains most of the Pentateuch; and the Cairo Codex (c. AD 896), denoted C, which contains Joshua through Kings and also the Prophets.

Although these manuscripts are much later than the biblical period, their reliability was largely confirmed with the discovery of the DSS beginning in 1947. Among the Qumran library are many manuscripts of biblical books as well as biblical commentaries, apocrphyal and pseudepigraphal works, and sectarian literature. All the OT books are represented among the scrolls that were found except Esther and Nehemiah, though the latter is usually presumed to have been at the end of Ezra but has not survived. The books with the most manuscripts are, in order, Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah. One of the striking characteristics of these scrolls is that they reflect a diversity of text types. For example, there is a copy of Jeremiah that is close to the Masoretic version, but also a manuscript of Jeremiah similar to the much shorter version found in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT).

Another Hebrew text of the OT is that of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which is the text transmitted by the Samaritans. It is similar to the MT in some respects but also has differences that reflect theological interests. The main manuscripts for the Samaritan Pentateuch are from the twelfth century.

Versions. Between the third and first centuries BC, the entire OT was translated into Greek. This version, known as the Septuagint (designated by the abbreviation LXX), became the main version of the OT used by the early church. Due to its adoption by the church, the LXX has been preserved in numerous manuscripts, including Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Vaticanus. By the late first century BC or early first century AD, there were two revisions of the Greek text: the Proto-Lucianic version and the Kaige recension. The latter aimed to revise the Greek toward closer conformity with the Hebrew text and derives its name from its peculiar tendency to translate the Hebrew word gam (“also”) with the Greek work kaige. In the second century AD three other Greek translations were made by Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, all of which revised the Kaige recension back toward the MT.

Another important early version of the OT consists of the Targumim, which are Aramaic translations or paraphrases (and sometimes extensive elaborations) of OT books. The official Targumim for Judaism are Targum Onqelos for the Pentateuch (c. second century AD), which is quite literal, and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan for the Prophets (sometime before the fourth century AD), which ranges from being quite literal to somewhat paraphrastic. Unofficial Targumim for the Pentateuch include Targum Neofiti and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. There are also various unofficial Targumim for the Writings section of the OT, except for Daniel and Ezra-Nehemiah (which are already written partly in Aramaic).

Besides the Greek and Aramaic translations, there are other important versions of the OT. Sometime in either the third or fourth century AD, the Peshitta of the OT was produced, though there is evidence that there were earlier Syriac translations of some books already circulating. Also important is a group of Latin translations known collectively as the Old Latin. These versions were produced sometime during the second century AD and were primarily made from already existing Greek translations rather than Hebrew texts. As with the NT, a later Latin translation was made by Jerome for the Vulgate.

Bible Versions

Bible Texts and Versions The NT and the OT have considerably different but partially overlapping textual histories. For clarity, it is best to begin with a survey of the NT manuscripts and versions.

Other important versions of the NT from antiquity are the Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopic translations.

Old Testament

Buried

Burial can refer to the ritual, body preparation, or interment.

Bury

Burial can refer to the ritual, body preparation, or interment.

Grief and Mourning

Grief is great sadness or sorrow or the circumstances that produce such; mourning refers to expressions of grief. Grief and mourning are often thought of in conjunction with death, but they may occur with regard to any personal or national tragedy (2 Sam. 13:19), the impending prospect of tragedy (Esther 4:3; Isa. 37:1), or repentance prompted by prophetic word of tragedy, sorrow over sin, or both.

The expressions of mourning in the Bible include weeping (Gen. 23:2), wailing (Esther 4:3; Isa. 15:3; Mark 5:38), tearing clothes and wearing sackcloth (Gen. 37:34; 2 Sam. 3:31), lying on the ground (2 Sam. 13:31), putting dust and ashes on the head or sitting on dust and ashes (Ezek. 27:30), fasting (2 Sam. 3:35; 12:16), singing songs of lament (2 Sam. 1:17–27; 3:32–35), pulling hair out of one’s beard (Ezra 9:3), cutting the hair (Jer. 7:29), uncovering the head (Lev. 10:6), removing sandals (Ezek. 24:17, 23), covering the lips or mouth (Ezek. 24:17, 22; Mic. 3:7), and employing professional mourners (Jer. 9:17; Matt. 9:23; Mark 5:38). Some pagan mourning practices were prohibited, such as slashing the body, cutting patterns into the body (tattooing?), and the somewhat obscure act of making the forehead bald (Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1; cf. 1 Kings 18:28).

Thus, grief and mourning were anything but stoic and brief. Grief was expressed both physically and vocally, often loudly, with expressions ranging from inarticulate groaning to poetic compositions in song. Although women may have been prominent among professional mourners, expressing grief was not considered unmasculine. Several times David was a leader in expressing grief. That the expression of grief should be brief, relatively dispassionate, and primarily characteristic of women was a Greek development that entered the church through people such as Augustine, who, for example, felt grieved that he had very briefly grieved the loss of his mother.

Paul’s admonition that believers should not grieve as do those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13) should not be construed as a dictum that it is wrong to grieve. The thought of the resurrection is a comfort in, not a replacement for, grief. Even Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus, knowing full well that he would soon resurrect him (John 11:25, 35, 40). Further, saints who have died and gone to heaven lament (Rev. 6:10). Grief is restricted for active-duty priests and once for Ezekiel, but these are clearly special circumstances and illustrate the normalcy of giving expression to grief. Ezekiel was to moan with a groaning for the dead (often misread as groaning silently) when his wife died, but he was not to engage in any mourning rites (Ezek. 24:15–27). This illustrated to Judah the circumstances that they would face, without opportunity to mourn properly for their dead. Ezekiel 8:14 indicts the women of Jerusalem for “mourning for Tammuz,” a pagan ritual involving the cycle of life, death, and rebirth of the Babylonian god Dumuzi.

Songs of lament are common in the OT. David composed a song of lament honoring the deaths of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. 1:17–27). After Joab’s unauthorized killing of Abner, David also sang a lament for Abner and required Joab to participate in mourning rituals (3:31–37). David also mourned his own sons: the unnamed son of Bathsheba (12:16–18), Amnon (13:30–33), and Absalom (18:33–19:4). In the case of Bathsheba’s son, David mourned in advance of the boy’s death, which had been prophetically proclaimed through Nathan. As the consequences of his sins continued, he progressively became undone in the mourning of his other sons. Also, funeral songs are used as the form of some prophetic material (Ezek. 19:1–14; 26:17–18; 27:2–9, 25–36; cf. Jer. 22:18; Amos 5:16). Not all laments are funeral songs per se. Compare also the book of Lamentations and the psalms of lament, also known as complaint psalms.

Expressions of grief and mourning were called for as part of repentance, combining both fear of punishment and depth of sorrow over sin (2 Chron. 34:19; Isa. 15:3; Joel 1:13).

Handkerchief

A cloth for wiping perspiration from the face. People in Ephesus used handkerchiefs that had touched Paul to cure the illnesses of the sick and exorcise evil spirits (Acts 19:12). The same Greek word (soudarion) is used for the facial burial cloths of Lazarus and Jesus (John 11:44; 20:7) and for the cloth used by the wicked servant to store his coin in the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:20).

Jesus Christ

The founder of what became known as the movement of Jesus followers or Christianity. For Christian believers, Jesus Christ embodies the personal and supernatural intervention of God in human history.

Introduction

Name. Early Christians combined the name “Jesus” with the title “Christ” (Acts 5:42; NIV: “Messiah”). The name “Jesus,” from the Hebrew Yehoshua or Yeshua, was a common male name in first-century Judaism. The title “Christ” is from the Greek christos, a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh (“anointed one, messiah”). Christians eventually were named after Jesus’ title (Acts 11:26). During the ministry of Jesus, Peter was the first disciple to recognize Jesus as the Messiah (Matt. 16:16; Mark 9:29; Luke 9:20).

Sources. From the viewpoint of Christianity, the life and ministry of Jesus constitute the turning point in human history. From a historical perspective, ample early source materials would be expected. Indeed, both Christian and non-Christian first-century and early second-century literary sources are extant, but they are few in number. In part, this low incidence is due to society’s initial resistance to the Jesus followers’ movement. The ancient Roman historian Tacitus called Christianity “a superstition,” since its beliefs did not fit with the culture’s prevailing worldview and thus were considered antisocial. Early literary sources therefore are either in-group documents or allusions in non-Christian sources.

The NT Gospels are the principal sources for the life and ministry of Jesus. They consist of Matthew, Mark, Luke (the Synoptic Gospels), and John. Most scholars adhere to the so-called Four Source Hypothesis. In this theory, Mark was written first and was used as a source by Matthew and Luke, who also used the sayings source Q (from German Quelle, meaning “source”) as well as their own individual sources M (Matthew) and L (Luke). John used additional sources.

The early church tried to put together singular accounts, so-called Gospel harmonies, of the life of Jesus. The Gospel of the Ebionites represents one such attempt based on the Synoptic Gospels. Another harmony, the Diatessaron, based on all four Gospels, was produced around AD 170 by Tatian. Additional source materials concerning the life of Christ are provided in the NT in texts such as Acts, the Pauline Epistles, the General Epistles, and the Revelation of John. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law” (Gal. 4:4). The first narrative about Jesus by the Christian community was a passion narrative, the account of his death and resurrection. The first extant references to this tradition are found in Paul’s letters (1 Cor. 2:2; Gal. 3:1). The resurrection was recognized from the beginning as the cornerstone of the Christian faith (1 Cor. 15:13–14).

Among non-Christian sources, the earliest reference to Jesus is found in a letter written circa AD 112 by Pliny the Younger, the Roman governor of Bithynia-Pontus (Ep. 10.96). The Roman historian Tacitus mentions Christians and Jesus around AD 115 in his famous work about the history of Rome (Ann. 15.44). Another Roman historian, Suetonius, wrote around the same time concerning unrest among the Jews in Rome because of a certain “Chrestos” (Claud. 25.4). Some scholars conclude that “Chrestos” is a misspelling of “Christos,” a reference to Jesus.

The Jewish author Josephus (first century AD) mentions Jesus in a story about the Jewish high priest Ananus and James the brother of Jesus (Ant. 20.200). A controversial reference to Jesus appears in a different part of the same work, where Josephus affirms that Jesus is the Messiah and that he rose from the dead (Ant. 18.63–64). The majority of scholars consider this passage to be authentic but heavily edited by later Christian copyists. Another Jewish source, the Talmud, also mentions Jesus in several places, but these references are very late and of little historical value.

Noncanonical Gospels that mention Jesus include, for example, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot, the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Egerton Gospel, and the Gospel of Judas. Although some of these may contain an occasional authentic saying or event, for the most part they are late and unreliable.

Jesus’ Life

Birth and childhood. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem during the reign of Herod the Great (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4, 11). Jesus was probably born between 6 and 4 BC, shortly before Herod’s death (Matt. 2:19). Both Matthew and Luke record the miracle of a virginal conception made possible by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:35). Luke mentions a census under the Syrian governor Quirinius that was responsible for Jesus’ birth taking place in Bethlehem (2:1–5). Both the census and the governorship at the time of the birth of Jesus have been questioned by scholars. Unfortunately, there is not enough extrabiblical evidence to either confirm or disprove these events, so their veracity must be determined on the basis of one’s view regarding the general reliability of the Gospel tradition.

On the eighth day after his birth, Jesus was circumcised, in keeping with the Jewish law, at which time he officially was named “Jesus” (Luke 2:21). He spent his growing years in Nazareth, in the home of his parents, Joseph and Mary (2:40). Of the NT Gospels, the Gospel of Luke contains the only brief portrayal of Jesus’ growth in strength, wisdom, and favor with God and people (2:40, 52). Luke also contains the only account of Jesus as a young boy (2:41–49).

Jesus was born in a lower socioeconomic setting. His parents offered a temple sacrifice appropriate for those who could not afford to sacrifice a sheep (Luke 2:22–24; cf. Lev. 12:8). Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, was a carpenter or an artisan in wood, stone, or metal (Matt. 13:55). From a geographical perspective, Nazareth was not a prominent place for settling, since it lacked fertile ground. Jesus’ disciple Nathanael expressed an apparently common first-century sentiment concerning Nazareth: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46).

Jesus was also born in a context of scandal. Questions of illegitimacy were surely raised, since his mother Mary was discovered to be pregnant before her marriage to Joseph. According to Matthew, only the intervention of an angel convinced Joseph not to break his betrothal (Matt. 1:18–24). Jesus’ birth took place in Bethlehem, far from his parents’ home in Nazareth. According to kinship hospitality customs, Joseph and Mary would have expected to stay with distant relatives in Bethlehem. It is likely that they were unwelcome because of Jesus’ status as an illegitimate child; thus Mary had to give birth elsewhere and place the infant Jesus in a feeding trough (Luke 2:7). A similar response was seen years later in Nazareth when Jesus was identified as “Mary’s son” (Mark 6:3) rather than through his paternal line, thereby shaming him as one who was born an illegitimate child. Jesus was likewise rejected at the end of his life as the crowds cried, “Crucify him!” (Matt. 27:22–23; Mark 15:13–14; Luke 23:21; John 19:6, 15). When Jesus was arrested, most of his followers fled (Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:50–52), and a core disciple, Peter, vehemently denied knowing him (Matt. 26:69–74; Mark 14:66–71; Luke 22:55–60; John 18:15–17, 25–27). His own siblings did not believe in him (John 7:5) and were evidently ashamed of his fate, since from the cross Jesus placed the care of his mother into the hands of “the disciple whom he loved” (19:26–27) rather than the next brother in line, as was customary.

Baptism, temptation, and start of ministry. After Jesus was baptized by the prophet John the Baptist (Luke 3:21–22), God affirmed his pleasure with him by referring to him as his Son, whom he loved (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). Jesus’ baptism did not launch him into fame and instant ministry success; instead, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he was tempted for forty days (Matt. 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). Mark stresses that the temptations immediately followed the baptism. Matthew and Luke identify three specific temptations by the devil, though their order for the last two is reversed. Both Matthew and Luke agree that Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread, expect divine intervention after jumping off the temple portico, and receive all the world’s kingdoms for worshiping the devil. Jesus resisted all temptation, quoting Scripture in response.

Matthew and Mark record that Jesus began his ministry in Capernaum in Galilee, after the arrest of John the Baptist (Matt. 4:12–13; Mark 1:14). Luke says that Jesus started his ministry at about thirty years of age (3:23). This may be meant to indicate full maturity or perhaps correlate this age with the onset of the service of the Levites in the temple (cf. Num. 4:3). John narrates the beginning of Jesus’ ministry by focusing on the calling of the disciples and the sign performed at a wedding at Cana (1:35–2:11).

Jesus’ public ministry: chronology. Jesus’ ministry started in Galilee, probably around AD 27/28, and ended with his death around AD 30 in Jerusalem. The temple had been forty-six years in construction (generally interpreted as the temple itself and the wider temple complex) when Jesus drove out the money changers (John 2:20). According to Josephus, the rebuilding and expansion of the second temple had started in 20/19 BC, during the eighteenth year of Herod’s reign (Ant. 15.380). The ministry of John the Baptist had commenced in the fifteenth year of Tiberius (Luke 3:1–2), who had become a coregent in AD 11/12. From these dates of the start of the temple building and the correlation of the reign of Tiberius to John the Baptist’s ministry, the onset of Jesus’ ministry can probably be dated to AD 27/28.

The Gospel of John mentions three Passovers and another unnamed feast in John 5:1. The length of Jesus’ ministry thus extended over three or four Passovers, equaling about three or three and a half years. Passover, which took place on the fifteenth of Nisan, came on a Friday in AD 30 and 33. The year of Jesus’ death was therefore probably AD 30.

Jesus’ ministry years may be divided broadly into his Galilean and his Judean ministries. The Synoptic Gospels describe the ministry in Galilee from various angles but converge again as Jesus enters Judea.

Galilean ministry. The early stages of Jesus’ ministry centered in and around Galilee. Jesus presented the good news and proclaimed that the kingdom of God was near. Matthew focuses on the fulfillment of prophecy (Matt. 4:13–17). Luke records Jesus’ first teaching in his hometown, Nazareth, as paradigmatic (Luke 4:16–30); the text that Jesus quoted, Isa. 61:1–2, set the stage for his calling to serve and revealed a trajectory of rejection and suffering.

All Gospels record Jesus’ gathering of disciples early in his Galilean ministry (Matt. 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke 5:1–11; John 1:35–51). The formal call and commissioning of the Twelve who would become Jesus’ closest followers is recorded in different parts of the Gospels (Matt. 10:1–4; Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16). A key event in the early ministry is the Sermon on the Mount/Plain (Matt. 5:1–7:29; Luke 6:20–49). John focuses on Jesus’ signs and miracles, in particular in the early parts of his ministry, whereas the Synoptics focus on healings and exorcisms.

During Jesus’ Galilean ministry, onlookers struggled with his identity. However, evil spirits knew him to be of supreme authority (Mark 3:11). Jesus was criticized by outsiders and by his own family (3:21). The scribes from Jerusalem identified him as a partner of Beelzebul (3:22). Amid these situations of social conflict, Jesus told parables that couched his ministry in the context of a growing kingdom of God. This kingdom would miraculously spring from humble beginnings (4:1–32).

The Synoptics present Jesus’ early Galilean ministry as successful. No challenge or ministry need superseded Jesus’ authority or ability: he calmed a storm (Mark 4:35–39), exorcized many demons (Mark 5:1–13), raised the dead (Mark 5:35–42), fed five thousand (Mark 6:30–44), and walked on water (Mark 6:48–49).

In the later part of his ministry in Galilee, Jesus often withdrew and traveled to the north and the east. The Gospel narratives are not written with a focus on chronology. However, only brief returns to Galilee appear to have taken place prior to Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. As people followed Jesus, faith was praised and fear resolved. Jerusalem’s religious leaders traveled to Galilee, where they leveled accusations and charged Jesus’ disciples with lacking ritual purity (Mark 7:1–5). Jesus shamed the Pharisees by pointing out their dishonorable treatment of parents (7:11–13). The Pharisees challenged his legitimacy by demanding a sign (8:11). Jesus refused them signs but agreed with Peter, who confessed, “You are the Messiah” (8:29). Jesus did provide the disciples a sign: his transfiguration (9:2–8).

Jesus withdrew from Galilee to Tyre and Sidon, where a Syrophoenician woman requested healing for her daughter. Jesus replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). Galileans had long resented the Syrian provincial leadership partiality that allotted governmental funds in ways that made the Jews receive mere “crumbs.” Consequently, when the woman replied, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table,” Jesus applauded her faith (Matt. 15:27–28). Healing a deaf-mute man in the Decapolis provided another example of Jesus’ ministry in Gentile territory (Mark 7:31–37). Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ took place during Jesus’ travel to Caesarea Philippi, a well-known Gentile territory. The city was the ancient center of worship of the Hellenistic god Pan.

Judean ministry. Luke records a geographic turning point in Jesus’ ministry as he resolutely set out for Jerusalem, a direction that eventually led to his death (Luke 9:51). Luke divides the journey to Jerusalem into three phases (9:51–13:21; 13:22–17:10; 17:11–19:27). The opening verses of phase one emphasize a prophetic element of the journey. Jesus viewed his ministry in Jerusalem as his mission, and the demands on discipleship intensified as Jesus approached Jerusalem (Matt. 20:17–19, 26–28; Mark 10:38–39, 43–45; Luke 14:25–35). Luke presents the second phase of the journey toward Jerusalem with a focus on conversations regarding salvation and judgment (Luke 13:22–30). In the third and final phase of the journey, the advent of the kingdom and the final judgment are the main themes (17:20–37; 19:11–27).

Social conflicts with religious leaders increased throughout Jesus’ ministry. These conflicts led to lively challenge-riposte interactions concerning the Pharisaic schools of Shammai and Hillel (Matt. 19:1–12; Mark 10:1–12). Likewise, socioeconomic feathers were ruffled as Jesus welcomed young children, who had little value in society (Matt. 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16; Luke 18:15–17).

Passion Week, death, and resurrection. Each of the Gospels records Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with the crowds extending him a royal welcome (Matt. 21:4–9; Mark 11:7–10; Luke 19:35–38; John 12:12–15). Luke describes Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem as a time during which Jesus taught in the temple as Israel’s Messiah (19:45–21:38).

In Jerusalem, Jesus cleansed the temple of profiteering (Mark 11:15–17). Mark describes the religious leaders as fearing Jesus because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching, and so they “began looking for a way to kill him” (11:18). Dismayed, each segment of Jerusalem’s temple leadership inquired about Jesus’ authority (11:27–33). Jesus replied with cunning questions (12:16, 35–36), stories (12:1–12), denunciation (12:38–44), and a prediction of Jerusalem’s own destruction (13:1–31). One of Jesus’ own disciples, Judas Iscariot, provided the temple leaders the opportunity for Jesus’ arrest (14:10–11).

At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted a new Passover, defining a new covenant grounded in his sufferings (Matt. 26:17–18, 26–29; Mark 14:16–25; Luke 22:14–20). He again warned the disciples of his betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:21–25, 31; Mark 14:27–31; Luke 22:21–23; John 13:21–30), and later he prayed for the disciples (John 17:1–26) and prayed in agony and submissiveness in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36–42; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–42). His arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and resurrection followed (Matt. 26:46–28:15; Mark 14:43–16:8; Luke 22:47–24:9; John 18:1–20:18). Jesus finally commissioned his disciples to continue his mission by making disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 1:8) and ascended to heaven with the promise that he will one day return (Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:9–11).

The Identity of Jesus Christ

Various aspects of Jesus’ identity are stressed in the four NT Gospels, depending on their target audiences. In the Gospels the witnesses to Jesus’ ministry are portrayed as constantly questioning and examining his identity (Matt. 11:2–5; 12:24; 26:63; 27:11; Mark 3:22; 8:11; 11:28; 14:61; Luke 7:18–20; 11:15; 22:67, 70; 23:39; John 7:20, 25–27; 18:37). Only beings of the spiritual realm are certain of his divinity (Mark 1:34; 3:11; Luke 4:41). At Jesus’ baptism, God referred to him as his Son, whom he loved (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). Likewise, when Jesus was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John, a voice affirmed, “This is my Son, whom I love” (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7). At the moment of his death, the questioning of Jesus’ identity culminated in a confession by a Roman centurion and other guards: “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54; cf. Mark 15:39).

Miracle worker. In the first-century setting, folk healers and miracle workers were part of the fabric of society. Jesus, however, performed signs and miracles in order to demonstrate the authority of the kingdom of God over various realms: disease, illness, the spiritual world, nature, and even future events. Especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ signs and miracles are used to show his authority and thus his identity.

No challenge superseded Jesus’ authority. Among his ample miracles and signs, he changed water into wine (John 2:7–9), calmed a storm in the sea (Matt. 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–39; Luke 8:22–25), exorcized demons (Matt. 9:32–34; Mark 5:1–13; Luke 9:42–43), healed the sick (Mark 1:40–44), raised the dead (Matt. 9:23–25; Mark 5:35–42; Luke 7:1–16; 8:49–54; John 11:17, 38–44), performed miraculous feedings (Matt. 14:17–21; 15:34–38; Mark 6:30–44; 8:5–9; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:8–13), and walked on water (Matt. 14:25–26; Mark 6:48–49; John 6:19).

The Pharisees requested miracles as evidence of his authority (Mark 8:11–12). Jesus refused, claiming that a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign (Matt. 12:38–39; 16:1–4). The only sign that he would give was the sign of Jonah—his death and resurrection three days later—a personal sacrifice, taking upon himself the judgment of the world (Matt. 12:39–41).

Rabbi/teacher. Jesus’ teaching style was similar to other first-century rabbis or Pharisees (Mark 9:5; 10:51; John 1:38; 3:2). What distinguished him was that he spoke with great personal authority (Matt. 5:22, 28, 32, 39, 44; Mark 1:22). Like other rabbis of his day, Jesus gathered disciples. He called these men to observe his lifestyle and to join him in his ministry of teaching, healing, and exorcism (Matt. 10:1–4; Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16).

Jesus used a variety of teaching methods. He frequently spoke in parables (Matt. 6:24; 13:24–52; 18:10–14, 23–35; 21:28–22:14; 24:32–36, 45–51; 25:14–30; Mark 4:1–34; 12:1–12; 13:28–34; Luke 8:4–18; 12:41–46; 13:18–21; 14:15–24; 15:1–16:15, 19–31; 18:1–14; 19:11–27; 20:9–19; 21:29–33), used figures of speech (John 10:9), hyperbole (Matt. 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25), argumentation (Matt. 26:11), object lessons (Matt. 24:32), frequent repetition (Matt. 13:44–47; Luke 13:18–21), practical examples, and personal guidance.

Major themes in Jesus’ teaching include the kingdom of God, the cost of discipleship, internal righteousness, the end of the age, his identity, his mission, and his approaching death. In his teachings, observance of Torah was given new context and meaning because God’s kingdom had “come near” (Matt. 3:2). Jesus had come to fulfill the law (Matt. 5:17).

Jesus’ teaching ministry often took place amid social conflict. These conflicts were couched in so-called challenge-riposte interactions in which the honor status of those involved was at stake. Jesus used these interactions as teachable moments. When questioned, Jesus gave replies that reveal omniscience or intimate knowledge of God’s will, especially in the Gospel of John. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus’ answers are both ethical and practical in nature. The Synoptics portray Jesus as challenged repeatedly with accusations of violating customs specified in the Jewish law. Jesus’ answers to such accusations often echoed the essence of 1 Sam. 15:22, “To obey is better than sacrifice,” phrased by Jesus as “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7). An overall “better than” ethic was common in Jesus’ public teaching.

The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7) contains a “better than” ethic in which internal obedience is better than mere outward obedience. For example, Jesus said that anger without cause is equal to murder (Matt. 5:21–22), that looking at a woman lustfully amounts to adultery (Matt. 5:28), and that instead of revenging wrongs one must reciprocate with love (Matt. 5:38–48). Jesus valued compassion above traditions and customs, even those contained within the OT law. He desired internal obedience above the letter of the law.

Jesus’ teachings found their authority in the reality of God’s imminent kingdom (Matt. 3:2; 10:7; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9), necessitating repentance (Matt. 3:2), belief (Mark 1:15), dependence (Matt. 18:3–5; Mark 10:15), and loyalty to a new community—the family of Jesus followers (Mark 3:34; 10:29–30). Jesus urged, “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Preaching with such urgency was common among prophetic teachers of the intertestamental period. Jesus, however, had his own grounds for urgency. He held that God deeply valued all humans (Matt. 10:31) and would bring judgment swiftly (Matt. 25:31–46).

Examples of a “greater good” ethic in the Synoptics include the occasions when Jesus ate with sinners (Mark 2:16–17). Jesus used an aphorism in response to accusations about his associations with sinners, saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). He advocated harvesting and healing on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23–28; 3:1–6), and when he was accused of breaking the law, he pointed to an OT exception (1 Sam. 21:1–6) to declare compassion appropriate for the Sabbath. Jesus also applied the “greater good” ethic in the case of divorce, since women suffered the societal stigma of adultery and commonly became outcasts following divorce (Matt. 19:8–9; Mark 10:5–9).

Jesus’ kingdom teachings were simultaneously spiritual, ethical, and eschatological in application. The teachings were aimed at internal transformation (Matt. 5:3–9; 18:3; Mark 10:15) and spurring on love (Matt. 5:44; 7:21). The Spirit of the Lord had called Jesus to bless the hurting ones as they aspired to a godly character. Jesus taught, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48), and “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The “blessed” ones in Jesus’ teachings are poor of spirit, peace driven, mournful, and hungry for righteousness, consumed with emulating godly character.

Some scholars believe that Jesus promoted an “interim ethic” for the kingdom, intended only for a short period prior to the end of time. However, he was explicit regarding the longevity of his teachings: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35; Luke 16:17).

Messiah. The concept of an anointed one, a messiah, who would restore the glories of David’s kingdom and bring political stability was common in Jewish expectation. Both before and after the Babylonian captivity, many Jews longed for one who would bring peace and protection. Israel’s prophets had spoken of a coming deliverer, one who would restore David’s kingdom and reign in justice and righteousness (2 Sam. 7:11–16; Isa. 9:1–7; 11:1–16; Jer. 23:5–6; 33:15–16; Ezek. 37:25; Dan. 2:44; Mic. 5:2; Zech. 9:9). Isaiah’s description of the servant (Isa. 53) whose suffering healed the nation provided a slightly different angle of expectation in terms of a deliverer.

Jesus’ authority and popularity as a miracle worker called up messianic images in first-century Jewish minds. On several occasions hearers called him “Son of David,” hoping for the Messiah (Matt. 12:23; 21:9). Simon Peter was the first follower who confessed Jesus as the Christ, the “Messiah” (Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29). In line with Isaiah’s model of the Suffering Servant, Jesus focused not on political ends but rather on spiritual regeneration through his own sacrificial death (Mark 10:45).

Eschatological prophet. Many scholars claim that Jesus is best understood as a Jewish apocalypticist, an eschatological prophet who expected God to intervene in history, destroy the wicked, and bring in the kingdom of God. Central in this understanding are Jesus’ prophecies concerning the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (Matt. 24:1–2, 15–22; Mark 13:1; Luke 21:5–24; John 2:19; Acts 6:14). In addition, it is noted that Jesus had twelve disciples, representative of the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:2–28; Luke 22:23–30). Certain of Jesus’ parables, those with apocalyptic images of coming judgment, present Jesus as an eschatological prophet (Matt. 24:45–25:30; Luke 12:41–46; 19:11–27).

Suffering Son of God. Jesus’ first recorded teaching in a synagogue in Nazareth was paradigmatic (Luke 4:16–21). He attributed the reading, Isa. 61:1–2, to his personal calling to serve, and in doing so he revealed a trajectory of suffering. The Gospel of Mark likewise aptly portrays Jesus as the suffering Son of God. Jesus’ own teachings incorporated his upcoming suffering (Mark 8:31; 9:12–13, 31; 10:33–34). He summarized his mission by declaring, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). His earthly career ended with a trial in Jerusalem consisting of both Roman and Jewish components (Matt. 26:57–68; 27:1–31; Mark 14:53–65; 15:1–20; Luke 22:54–23:25; John 18:19–24; 18:28–19:16). He was insulted, scourged, mocked, and crucified.

Jesus’ suffering culminated in his humiliating death by crucifixion (Matt. 27:33–50; Mark 15:22–37; Luke 23:33–46; John 19:16–30). Crucifixion was a death of unimaginable horror, bringing shame and humiliation to the victim and his family. Anyone hanging on a tree was considered cursed (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). Thus, especially in a Jewish society, anyone associated with a crucified person bore the shame of following one who was executed as a lowly slave and left as a cursed corpse. The apostle Paul referred to this shame of the cross when he stated, “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Rom. 1:16).

Exalted Lord. Jesus had prophesied that he would rise again (Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19; 27:63; Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46). The testimony of the Synoptics is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ indeed occurred on the third day, Christ having died on Friday (Mark 15:42–45; Luke 23:52–54; John 19:30–33) and risen again on Sunday (Matt. 28:1–7; Mark 16:2–7; Luke 24:1–7; John 20:1–16). The resurrected Jesus was witnessed by the women (Matt. 28:8–9), the eleven disciples (Matt. 28:16–17; Luke 24:36–43), and travelers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:31–32). According to Paul, he appeared to as many as five hundred others (1 Cor. 15:6). He appeared in bodily form, spoke, showed his scars, and ate (Luke 24:39–43; John 20:27; Acts 1:4). After forty postresurrection days, Jesus ascended into the heavenly realm (Acts 1:9).

As much as Jesus’ death was the epitome of shame, his victory over death was his ultimate exaltation (Phil. 2:5–11). At Pentecost, Peter proclaimed that in the resurrection God fulfilled OT promises (Ps. 16:10) by raising his Son from the grave (Acts 2:30–31). Furthermore, Christ provided freedom from the law through his resurrection (Rom. 5:13–14), God’s approval of his life and work (Phil. 2:8–9), and God’s designation of him as Lord over all the earth, the living and the dead (Acts 17:30–31; Phil. 2:10; Heb. 1:3), and over all his enemies (Eph. 1:20–23).

Jesus’ exaltation commenced the beginning of forgiveness and justification (Luke 24:46–47; Acts 13:30–39; Rom. 4:25) and his intercession for the people of God (Rom. 8:34). His ascension signaled the coming of the Holy Spirit as comforter and teacher (John 14:26; Acts 2:33) and was accompanied by the promise of his return in glory (Luke 24:51), at which time he will render judgment (Matt. 19:28; 24:31; Rev. 20:11–15) and establish his eternal kingdom (1 Cor. 15:24; 2 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 11:15; 22:5).

Jesus’ Purpose and Community

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, who preaches the good news of the kingdom, urging people to repent (4:17–23). Repentance and belief allow one to enter the kingdom. The call into the kingdom is a call into a new covenant, one made in Jesus’ blood (26:28).

In the prologue to the Gospel of Mark, the narrator reveals the identity of Jesus (1:1). Jesus is presented as the one who brings good tidings of salvation (cf. Isa. 40:9; 52:7; 61:1). The centrality of the gospel, the good news (Mark 1:14–15), is evident.

Luke likewise presents the preaching of the good news as a main purpose of Jesus’ ministry (4:43). The content of this good news is the kingdom of God (4:43; 8:1; 16:16). When the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus if he was the one who was to come (7:20), Jesus answered, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (7:22). The kingdom of God, as presented in Luke, brings freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed (4:18). Jesus’ healings and exorcisms announce the coming kingdom of God already present in the ministry of Jesus (4:40–44; 6:18–20; 8:1–2; 9:2; 10:8–9).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus testifies to the good news by way of signs throughout his ministry. These signs point to Jesus’ glory, his identity, and the significance of his ministry. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who offers eternal and abundant life. This abundant life is lived out in community.

In the Gospel of John, the disciples of Jesus represent the community of God (17:21). The disciples did not belong to the world, but they continued to live in the world (17:14–16). Throughout his ministry, Jesus called his disciples to follow him. This was a call to loyalty (Matt. 10:32–40; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26), a call to the family of God (Matt. 12:48–50; Mark 3:33–35). Jesus’ declaration “On this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18) was preceded by the call to community. Jesus’ presence as the head of the community was replaced by the promised Spirit (John 14:16–18).

Jesus’ ministry continued in the community of Jesus’ followers, God’s family—the church. Entrance into the community was obtained by adopting the values of the kingdom, belief, and through the initiation rite of baptism (Matt. 10:37–39; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26, 57–62; John 1:12; 3:16; 10:27–29; Acts 2:38; 16:31–33; 17:30; Rom. 10:9).

The Quests for the Historical Jesus

The quest for the historical Jesus, or seeking who Jesus was from a historical perspective, is a modern phenomenon deemed necessary by scholars who claim that the NT Gospels were written long after Jesus’ death and were heavily influenced by the post-Easter understanding of the church.

The beginning of this quest is often dated to 1770, when the lecture notes of Hermann Samuel Reimarus were published posthumously. Reimarus had launched an inquiry into the identity of Jesus that rejected as inauthentic all supernatural elements in the Gospels. He concluded that the disciples invented Jesus’ miracles, prophecies, ritualistic religion, and resurrection. Reimarus’s conclusions were not widely accepted, but they set off a flurry of rationalistic research into the historical Jesus that continued throughout the nineteenth century. This became known as the “first quest” for the historical Jesus.

In 1906 German theologian Albert Schweit-zer published The Quest of the Historical Jesus (German title: Von Reimarus zu Wrede: Eine Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung), a scathing indictment of the first quest. Schweitzer’s work showed that nineteenth-century researchers re-created Jesus in their own image, transforming the historical Jesus into a modern philanthropist preaching an inoffensive message of love and brotherhood. Schweitzer’s conclusions marked the beginning of the end for this first quest. Schweitzer himself concluded that the historical Jesus was an eschatological prophet whose purposes failed during his last days in Jerusalem.

With the demise of the first quest, some NT scholars, such as Rudolf Bultmann, rejected any claim to being able to discover the historical Jesus. This trend continued until 1953, when some of Bultmann’s former students launched what has come to be known as the “new quest” for the historical Jesus (1953–c. 1970). This quest created new interest in the historical Jesus but was still dominated by the view that the portrait of Jesus in the Gospels is largely a creation of the church in a post-Easter setting.

As the rebuilding years of the post–World War II era waned and scholars started to reap academic fruit from major archaeological finds such as the DSS, research on the historical Jesus moved on to what has been called the “third quest.” This quest seeks especially to research and understand Jesus in his social and cultural setting.

Lament

Expressions of grief and mourning were called for as part of repentance, combining both fear of punishment and depth of sorrow over sin (2 Chron. 34:19; Isa. 15:3; Joel 1:13).

Lord's Prayer

This prayer, found but not named as such in Matt. 6:9–13; Luke 11:2–5 (see also Did. 8.2, which follows the Matthean version), is a version of the Jewish Qaddish prayer revised around the theme of the kingdom of God and is a paradigmatic model of prayer given by Jesus to his followers.

Jesus and Prayer

Prayer was a key element of Jewish piety and devotion to God. It was a large part of meetings in synagogues, annual festivals, worship in the temple, and daily recitals of the words of the law. Jesus is remembered as withdrawing into lonely and desolate places for times of prayer (Mark 1:35; 6:46), most poignantly in the garden of Geth-semane (Mark 14:32–42 pars.). Jesus’ time in the wilderness probably was a time of prayer and fasting as well (Mark 1:12–13 pars.). Besides the Lord’s Prayer, another prayer of Jesus celebrates God’s revelation to the disciples after their short itinerant mission (Matt. 11:25–26 // Luke 10:21).

The evangelist Luke emphasizes Jesus at prayer more than any other Gospel writer. Luke’s Gospel portrays Jesus as praying at his baptism (3:21), prior to his selection of the Twelve (6:12–13), prior to Peter’s confession of him as Messiah (9:18), at his transfiguration (9:28–29), prior to his teaching on the Lord’s Prayer (11:1), for Peter (22:32), and twice while on the cross (23:34, 46). Jesus also taught much about prayer, concerning how his disciples are or are not to pray and how to show genuine devotion in the kingdom community without hypocrisy (Mark 11:24–25; Matt. 5:44 // Luke 6:28; Matt. 6:5–8; Luke 11:5–13; 18:1–14; 21:36).

In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus’ prayers underscore the unique nature of the relationship between the Father and the Son (John 11:41–42; 12:27–28). Jesus’ high priestly prayer for the disciples concerns their preservation and the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives (17:1–26). A distinctive characteristic of Jesus’ prayers is that God is addressed by the Aramaic word abba (“father”), and this became common in early Christian worship (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6).

The Lord’s Prayer: Matthew and Luke

The Lord’s Prayer takes distinct forms in Matthew and in Luke (see table 2). The differences in the two prayers might be attributable to Jesus teaching two different versions. More likely, Matthew and Luke both knew the prayer from a common source (written or oral), and Matthew’s version is a more liturgical elaboration of Luke’s shorter and more “original” version. Matters are complicated somewhat by the fact that later Christian scribes had a propensity for harmonizing the two prayers and sometimes amended them in their respective manuscripts. Both prayers agree that (1) God is the Holy Father, (2) the kingdom is yet to come in its fullness, (3) followers of Jesus depend on God for their daily provisions, (4) followers of Jesus depend on God for forgiveness, (5) which is reciprocated in the forgiveness of others, and include (6) the supplication that God not let them fall into the final tribulation.

Table 2. The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew and Luke

Matthew 6:9-13….Luke 11:2-4

Our Father in heaven,….Father,

hallowed be your name,….hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,….your kingdom come.

your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven….

Give us today our daily bread….Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,….Forgive us our sins,

as we also have forgiven our debtors….for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation,….And lead us not into temptation.

But deliver us from the evil one….

For your is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. [added in some later manuscripts; see NIV mg.]….

The Lord’s Prayer: The Petitions

The prayer can be broken up into a number of petitions. First is the petition addressed to God as Father and self-sanctifier. God is invoked as Father, and his name represents both his character as a loving father and his authority as the master over all creation. The prayer is theocentric, and it reads literally “let your name be sanctified,” which is a plea that God’s holiness will become more and more evident. The Lord’s Prayer is not some kind of “I want” list, but rather a burst of praise expressing the hope that God’s sheer goodness and Godness will be acknowledged by all.

The second petition is for God to finally establish his kingdom. The “kingdom of God” is more akin to God’s reign, rule, or government. It is referred to rarely in the OT (e.g., Dan. 2:44; Obad. 21); much more prominent is the theme of God as “king.” In many of the psalms God already is king of Israel and the nations (e.g., Pss. 93–99), and yet the prophets could look forward to the day when Yahweh would again show himself to be king precisely through his deliverance of Israel, which would be the ultimate expression of the kingly power (e.g., Isa. 52:7; Zech. 14:9). The prayer for the coming of the kingdom of God is a prayer for God to establish his reign or rule in its final and full manifestation on earth. Although the kingdom was partially present during Jesus’ ministry by virtue of his exorcisms and healings (e.g., Mark 1:15; Luke 11:20), it still awaits its final consummation. Matthew’s version has “on earth as it is in heaven” and may indicate a millennial view of the kingdom as supplanting earthly kingdoms, resulting in the transformation of the present age. The petition does not promote escapism from the world but rather points toward its eventual redemption and transformation by the glorious power of heaven becoming a reality upon the earth.

Third is the petition for daily provision of physical needs. The “daily bread” petition looks to God as the provider and caregiver of his people. Elsewhere in the Sermon on the Mount/Plain, Jesus preaches dependence on God as a means of escaping the worry and lure of wealth and money (Matt. 6:25–33 // Luke 12:22–34). Bread was a powerful symbol for sustenance and life (e.g., Prov. 22:9; Lam. 2:12; John 6:35, 48; Sir. 29:21; 34:25). The petition assumes that God is interested in the most mundane aspects of human existence, and that he gives what is needed, not always what is wanted. God sustains his people in their hour of need as proof of his fatherly care and compassion.

Fourth is the petition for divine forgiveness in coordination with mutual forgiveness among the community of Jesus’ followers. The prayer does not ask God to forgive persons who then in turn forgive others; rather, in reverse, the prayer implies that God forgives in the same way that humans forgive each other (Matthew) or on the basis of humans forgiving each other (Luke). The role of mutual forgiveness within the new covenant community is spelled out clearly by Paul in Colossians: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Col. 3:13).

Fifth is the petition to be spared eschatological tribulation and the malevolence of Satan. The word peirasmos can mean “testing,” “trial,” “temptation,” or even “tribulation” or “ordeal.” The prayer could constitute a plea for help in the face of personal trials and struggles in the believer’s life and in the journey of discipleship (e.g., 1 Cor. 10:13; James 1:2), or it could denote a request to be kept from the eschatological ordeal that will precede the final and full establishment of the kingdom of God (e.g., Mark 14:36, 38; Rev. 3:10). Importantly, what is feared in this prayer is not experiencing the peirasmos but rather succumbing to it—the fear of failure. In addition, the prayer asks to be delivered from ho ponēros, “evil,” or (more likely) “the evil one” (cf. Matt. 5:39)—that is, the devil or Satan. God tests his people to strengthen them and prove their faithfulness, while Satan tempts people to subdue and destroy them. This prayer acknowledges the fragility and helplessness of the human state in the face of human, spiritual, and cosmic evil. The prayer seeks liberation from evil in the coming reign of God’s eschatological kingdom.

The Lord’s Prayer: The Theology

The theological framework, ethical exhortation, and social dynamics created or presupposed by the prayer are as follows.

First, God is the Father of the followers of Jesus. This is axiomatic in the Gospels and is repeated by the Christian prayer that addresses God the Father as “Abba” (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6).

Second, an overarching importance is attached to the kingdom of God as the context in which all prayer is prayed. The tension of the prayer—the very fact of needs and the threat of continuing perils—exists only because God’s plan to restore Israel and renew creation has not yet been put into full effect. God’s kingdom has broken into the world through the work of the Son of God and the giving of the Holy Spirit, and yet it still awaits a final consummation, when God is “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28) and finally repossesses the world for himself. The prayer presupposes the “now” and the “not yet” of God’s saving action and balances prayers of triumph and lament in light of current temptations and the coming victory of God.

Third, in this prayer salvation not only is spiritual (understood as going to heaven when one dies) but also involves the physical well-being of a person and healthy relationships within the believing community. Just as God is concerned with physical human needs, so should humans be with their fellow humans. If human beings forgive, then God also forgives them. Human relations are to mirror the values of heaven and the vision of the kingdom.

Fourth, the world order currently exists in partial subjugation to evil powers opposed to God’s rule, which is simply part of the dire situation of “this age.” The prayer presupposes an apocalyptic worldview characterized by dualism (God/Satan, good/evil, present/future, etc.), the necessity of encountering and persevering against evil, and divine intervention to put the world order right and replace it with the kingdom of God.

Fifth, discipleship involves a variety of traits and characteristics. This prayer depicts the disciple as trusting and as exhibiting faith in God’s purpose and plan. The prayer presumes that disciples cling to God in dependence upon him in their day-to-day need. The prayer assumes that disciples try to imitate God in reflecting goodness, love, holiness, and peace in their respective communities. The prayer also admonishes endurance in the face of trials and persistence (not repetitiveness) in the discipline of prayer.

Sixth, although the prayer does not have an explicit Christology, one can be found implicitly. It seems implied that Jesus is a mediator between the Father and the disciples, and that he possesses an important role in the final manifestation of the kingdom. It is, after all, the disciples of Jesus who are promised a special place in the kingdom and a special relationship with the God of Israel.

Summary

The Lord’s Prayer has remained a common thread in the devotional life of followers of Jesus for two millennia because it is simple, memorable, poignant, and yet profound. It is not the prayer of an elite few; it belongs to all who cry out to God as Father and see the way to God in Jesus Christ, the exalted Lord and Messiah of Israel. As teachings of Jesus hold immeasurable significance for the life, faith, praxis, and service of his followers, this prayer encapsulates a motif of Jesus’ own mission: God as king and the love of God for his own people.

Mourn

Expressions of grief and mourning were called for as part of repentance, combining both fear of punishment and depth of sorrow over sin (2 Chron. 34:19; Isa. 15:3; Joel 1:13).

Mourner

Expressions of grief and mourning were called for as part of repentance, combining both fear of punishment and depth of sorrow over sin (2 Chron. 34:19; Isa. 15:3; Joel 1:13).

Mourning

Expressions of grief and mourning were called for as part of repentance, combining both fear of punishment and depth of sorrow over sin (2 Chron. 34:19; Isa. 15:3; Joel 1:13).

Nativity of Christ

The founder of what became known as the movement of Jesus followers or Christianity. For Christian believers, Jesus Christ embodies the personal and supernatural intervention of God in human history.

Introduction

Jesus’ Life

The Identity of Jesus Christ

Jesus’ Purpose and Community

The Quests for the Historical Jesus

Resurrection

Christ’s resurrection is the foundational event for the Christian faith. Paul goes so far as to say that if Christ did not rise, then the Christian faith is futile and Christians are to be pitied more than all others (1 Cor. 15:17–19). Resurrection’s climaxing position in all four Gospel narratives yields the same understanding. Christ came not merely to die, as some claim, but to conquer death. Resurrection gives everything that Christ did before his death an “of God” significance, and it establishes everything that follows as a guarantee of God’s eschatological promises. Without the resurrection, Jesus would have been just another “prophet hopeful” who died a tragic peasant death in Jerusalem. However, as it is, evidenced by the resurrection, he is the Son of God. According to the NT, the resurrection is the triumphant cry that God indeed did come to visit his creation and conquer the power of sin and death.

Old Testament

Resurrection hope is poorly attested by the OT, especially in earlier sections. References are made to death that seem to indicate that the dead have not ceased to exist, but such passages refer (at best) to death as a shadowy, nonlife existence (Job 26:5; Ps. 88:10; Ezek. 32:21). When early OT texts suggest that certain individuals experience everlasting life, they do so by escaping death altogether. Enoch (Gen. 5:24) walked with God and was simply taken away, while God dramatically picked up Elijah in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). Saul’s attempt at Endor to reawaken Samuel from death to receive his counsel (1 Sam. 28:3–14) speaks more to the superstition and disobedience of Saul than it does to Israel’s faith in life after death.

Some OT prophetic texts hint at a corporate restoration of life beyond the grave. It is a promise not of resurrection from death to life for the individual but of God’s unceasing love for corporate Israel that ultimately results in the redemption of his people from the snares of death (Hos. 6:1–3; 13:14). Although these texts are difficult to separate from Israel’s vision of postexilic national restoration, as in the vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37:1–14), they do indicate a growing sense of hope that God will restore Israel to renewed life in his presence after death. A similar trend may lie behind Job 14:14, where Job, after affirming the finality of individual death (14:12), still raises the question of a possible life after death. The basis for this notion rests on the affirmation that the living God, Job’s gracious redeemer, has power over death and will allow Job to see life after death (Job 19:25–26; cf. Ps. 16:10).

Daniel 12:2, which on the surface looks like a full-fledged teaching on individual resurrection, still falls short as a beneficial comparison to the teaching of Jesus. Although the Pharisees (along with a number of modern interpreters looking for OT foundations for individual resurrection) later used this as a proof text for individual resurrection, its context (Dan. 11) clearly suggests a struggle between nations, to which God eventually will reveal his eternal judgment. God will vindicate his people. Notwithstanding, OT language of eternal awakening to a new reality, good or bad, opens the door for further reflection on God’s eternal purpose and how it relates to human experience beyond death.

Intertestamental Period

The speculations of the intertestamental period portray a vast array of philosophical influences that affected the thinking of Second Temple Judaism. The conservative Sadducees, who may have accepted only the Torah as Scripture, understood Sheol (the state or abode of the dead) to be a place of unending sleep and thus denied resurrection (cf. Sir. 17:27–28; 30:17; Acts 23:8). Other groups, such as the Pharisees and the Essenes, were to a greater or lesser extent influenced by Hellenistic thinking on the relationship between spirit and matter. The lack of unity among these groups, especially the Pharisees, created a plethora of understandings concerning resurrection. Some, influenced by the Platonic idea that the soul/spirit is immortal and will be released at the death of the body, turned reflections on the afterlife into an issue of immortality (4 Macc. 14:5; 18:23). Others seem to have affirmed a physical resurrection but restricted it to either Israel or a righteous remnant thereof. This latter perspective easily connected to the view that all would be raised, the unrighteous for punishment, the righteous for reward and bliss.

It proves impossible, therefore, to determine to what extent Christian reflections during the first century influenced Jewish writers rather than vice versa. Sociologically speaking, the early Christians were one of the many parties of Judaism developing during that period. As the Gospels seem to suggest, they interacted, maybe especially, with the Pharisees.

New Testament

The OT’s relative silence on the issue of resurrection stands in stark contrast to the central position that it holds in the NT. All four Gospels build their narrative portrayal of Jesus’ ministry toward this climaxing event, and Jesus himself argued against the view of the Sadducees (Mark 12:18–27). Beyond the Gospel narratives, Paul makes resurrection the very heart of the Christian faith (1 Cor. 15); Hebrews understands resurrection as part of Christian elementary teaching (Heb. 6:1–2); James plays on the word “raise” as he explains the connection between faith and strength of life (James 5:15); Peter sees resurrection as the basis for Christian hope (1 Pet. 1:3); Revelation details the quality of the resurrected life (Rev. 21–22). In short, every part of the NT affirms the reality of a resurrection after death. It is the climactic evidence that God’s kingdom now dwells among people. God brings life; death will no longer have the last word.

The Gospels. The Gospels give four accounts of raisings from the dead. Strictly speaking, these are not resurrections but resuscitations. The people in question are not raised to eternal life but rather are brought back to life in their historical circumstances; they will later die again. The Gospels’ intertwining of the raising of Jairus’s daughter with the healing of the hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:21–43 pars.) underscores the conceptual connection between life and God’s presence. First-century Judaism had come up bankrupt and could do nothing to help a woman whose bleeding made worship of God impossible. Now, however, life could be restored after death. Even the leader of the worship center, who could do nothing to help this woman, now saw his own daughter raised from the dead.

The raising of the widow’s son from Nain (Luke 7:11–17) similarly indicates that the days of the prophet Elijah had returned (1 Kings 17:8–24). God was again visiting his people and bringing life after death. Most spectacularly, Lazarus’s raising after four days in the grave (John 11:1–44) speaks directly to God’s power to bring life out of death in connection with OT understandings of the afterlife. The emphasis on the four days in the grave, along with Jesus’ pronouncement of himself as “resurrection and life” and his application of God’s revelatory name (“I am”) to himself, make this event stand out as anticipating what is soon to come in full. The same holds true in the unleashing of power at Jesus’ death, when graves spring open and the dead are raised (Matt. 27:51–53).

Paul’s letters. Paul’s teaching on resurrection anchors in eschatology, or vice versa. The reality and finality of death, introduced by Adam’s disobedience, are now overcome by Christ through his resurrection (1 Cor. 15:21–22). Christ’s resurrection evidences that God has ended death’s reign; it heralds the imminent coming of the end, a time when all who belong to Christ will be raised in like manner, and death will be no more (15:23–24).

Although at times Paul uses the language of body, soul, and spirit, he never falls prey to a Platonic dualism that separates body from soul, claiming that only the body dies while the soul remains immortal (1 Tim. 6:15b–16a). Rather, following Hebraic thinking, he understands resurrection as total transformation of the whole person, comparing it to what happens to a seed put in the ground. It must die before something completely new comes up (1 Cor. 15:36). The promise of resurrection is the promise that the death-marked human who is buried will, at the time of resurrection, be transformed and suited to live eternally in God’s presence. What is now perishable will become imperishable (1 Cor. 15:42–44). To Paul, this is not about getting rid of matter (the body) that is created by God, but about Christ’s restoration of what Adam destroyed (1 Cor. 15:49). It is the same understanding expressed in Rev. 21:1–5a, where John prophesies the transformation of both heaven and earth when God reestablishes his covenant relationship with his people.

Summary. Although the Gospels’ presentations of Jesus’ resurrection vary in some detail (probably due to purpose and audience), all of them treat the event as the theological centerpiece of the Gospel narrative. The resurrection story launches God’s eschatological work and opens the door, as the postresurrection appearances show, for a connection between the Jesus story and the church story. It is the foundation both for the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18–20) and for Pentecost (Luke 24:49). All people of all nations can now meet the living Christ.

Shroud

A cloth used to wrap a body for burial, as distinct from coffin burial, which was not customary in biblical Israel (though see Gen. 50:26 on the use of the coffin in Egypt). The haste with which Ananias’s corpse was “wrapped up” (Acts 5:6) suggests shrouding with everyday garments. In other cases, the corpse was washed (Acts 9:37), dressed with spices, and carefully wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth was placed on the face (John 11:44; 19:40).

Sign

The word “sign” usually is a translation of the Hebrew word ’ot or the Greek word sēmeion. Signs are visible, typically being an object, a mark, an event, or a custom. In addition, signs are symbolic, pointing to things not seen. Signs often reveal or share some quality with the unseen reality to which they point, and so they are a token of that reality. In the Bible, signs typically are caused or instituted by God, and in many cases they are miraculous. However, in a few cases signs are set forth as the work of other gods (as in Deut. 13:1–2) or as being instituted by merely human design (as in Num. 2:2). In summary, a sign may be defined as something seen that points to something unseen, and that is instituted or created to do so by someone’s intention.

Several examples support this definition. Keeping the Sabbath is a sign of God’s rest after creating the world (Exod. 31:15); the Sabbath rest itself imitates God’s rest. Circumcision is a sign of God’s promise to both Abraham and his descendants; circumcision is also a physical mark that is related to human fertility (Gen. 17:11). The rainbow is a sign of God’s promise not to destroy the world by water and rain; rainbows appear only with rain (Gen. 9:13). (In the original Hebrew text, both the custom of circumcision and the rainbow that appears after the great flood are called “signs.”) The early Passover plagues both bring and warn of judgment, while the healing miracles of Jesus both bring and promise blessing. While signs point to unseen realities, these realities do not diminish the value or importance of the visible world. Instead, the unseen realities themselves are ultimately expressed in the visible world.

Divine Intervention

The word “sign” usually refers to an event that cannot be plausibly explained by natural or human causes but is consistent with intervention by God or by some other divine power. An important example of this occurs in the book of Exodus. In Exodus, Moses predicts each kind of plague that will occur and the time of its occurrence. Many of those plagues, such as the plague of locusts (Exod. 10:14–15), are events that could occur naturally. However, the merely natural occurrence of so many plagues in such a short time is quite improbable. It is likewise improbable that Moses could simply guess beforehand the type and timing of all these plagues.

Ultimately, a merely natural explanation for these plagues does not prove credible to the Egyptians. However, the plagues are consistent with acts of divine intervention, provided one does not rule out that possibility beforehand. They are consistent because Moses gives a plausible explanation of why God would intervene at this time, even though God had not intervened within living memory. All these evidences together are considered sufficient to infer that some god has caused the signs. The signs are portrayed as objectively known events. When Pharaoh refuses to admit that Moses can bring plagues, Pharaoh’s own officials say that he should know better (Exod. 10:7). The officials believe in the reality of the signs even though they do not follow the faith or God of Moses.

Throughout the Bible, signs give evidence of God’s direct action and identity, but they are not given as evidence for God’s existence. God’s existence is to be known by other means; for example, Paul writes that the existence of the Creator is “clearly seen” from the created world (Rom. 1:20).

Miracles and Faith

Miraculous signs often are given to validate a prophet and his message. Signs are especially frequent when that prophetic message is a covenant from God that has life-or-death consequences. Both the Mosaic covenant (Deut. 30:15–20) and the new covenant of Jesus (Luke 22:15–20; John 5:24–29) warn of life and death. In the OT, signs occur most prolifically at the hands of Moses. The signs manifested on behalf of Moses are explicitly given so that people will believe in Moses and follow God’s covenant (Exod. 4:1–9; 19:9).

Signs occur even more frequently and prominently in the NT. Jesus makes the lame walk, heals the blind, and even raises the dead (John 5:1–9; 9:1–7; 11:1–44). Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is characterized as performing many signs, and the signs are cited as one reason to believe in Jesus (John 20:30–31). The signs are characteristic of Jesus’ ministry and later of his apostles’ ministries. The tradition that Jesus performed signs is interwoven throughout the four Gospels as we have them, even in portions often thought to reflect earlier sources. The most important sign in the NT is the resurrection of Jesus, since this is the ultimate validation of Jesus by God, and the Christian faith hangs upon the truth of Jesus’ resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1–20).

Although signs are given to elicit faith, human nature and desires are such that reasonable belief does not always take root. As with Pharaoh, many others throughout the OT do not believe despite seeing signs (e.g., Num. 14:11; Ps. 78:11). In the Gospels, many will not believe any reports about miraculous signs. They instead demand to see signs personally (Mark 8:11–12; John 4:48; 6:30; 9:27–41; 20:29) or attribute them to Satan. The Passover signs were to be remembered and credited by later generations (Exod. 12:26–27). Similarly, the signs performed by Jesus were intended by the evangelists to be credited by readers who had not seen them (John 20:29–31). Belief is not expected without inquiry (John 4:39–42; Acts 17:11); however, unbelief in the face of evidence is seen as a human failing (John 11:37–40).

Tears

Expressions of grief and mourning were called for as part of repentance, combining both fear of punishment and depth of sorrow over sin (2 Chron. 34:19; Isa. 15:3; Joel 1:13).

Wail

Expressions of grief and mourning were called for as part of repentance, combining both fear of punishment and depth of sorrow over sin (2 Chron. 34:19; Isa. 15:3; Joel 1:13).

Showing 1 to 50 of243 results

1. Noticed That You Passed Away

Illustration

A few years ago, a letter appeared in the national news that was sent to a deceased person by the Indiana Department of Social Services. It read as follows:

"Your food stamps will be stopped in March because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances."

Unless your name is Lazarus, there haven't been too many who have seen a change in those circumstances!

2. Remove the Handle Cut off the Source

Illustration

Brett Blair & Leonard Sweet

It's time to find our pump handle, or to get a right pump handle. Let me explain.

In the 1850's, 500 people died of cholera in just ten days in one London neighborhood, marking the beginning of horrible epidemic. Victorian physician Dr. John Snow of London, now considered one of the fathers of modern epidemiology, had already written a controversial pamphlet suggesting that cholera was not caused by "vapors," but was instead a disease of the "gut," spread by contaminated water.

With the high number of deaths in this neighborhood, he studied the cases and was convinced that a pump at the intersection of Broad and Cambridge Streets was the sole source of contaminated water. In an emotional public meeting, he suggested removing the pump handle so no more water could be drawn from that location.

The rest is history. The handle was removed, the water inaccessible, cholera abated, and huge engineering projects were launched for sanitation systems and clean water across Europe. Dr. Snow's pump handle affected all of us. It led to improvements in the areas of sanitation and purification, and dramatically improved human life, lowering infant mortality rates and increasing life spans. (For more see Steve Loranger [CEO of ITT Industries], "Global Water Management," Vital Speeches, 15 March 20005, 325ff.)

3. Joy Unbounded, Glory Fulfilled

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

Pastor/Bishop Kenneth Ulmer (Inglewood, California) envisions the animating, life-fulfilling power of the Holy Spirit as like the transformation that comes over the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon figures as they're inflated. Without any air these huge balloons lay flat on the floor, limp, and featureless figures. But when the wind starts whipping up inside those balloons, they begin to rise, stand up, and stand tall. They become individuals, people and creatures that we recognize and love. Once on the parade route, these balloons take on even more life, for they're animated not just by the air within them, but by the winds that buffet and bolster them down the street.

In today's gospel text, Jesus doesn't appear before Martha and Mary – who are in agony over the death of their brother Lazarus – just to bring them a casserole. Jesus doesn't cluck his tongue and concede that Lazarus' death is a tragedy.

Jesus goes to his best friend's tomb and calls out, "Lazarus, come forth!" As experienced by Ezekiel and the psalmist, once again the animating spirit of God moves with power and precision, and brings a dead man walking right out of his tomb! This is what God settles for. Miracle, rebirth, deliverance from the pit, and eternal redemption. God doesn't define winning as not losing. God doesn't settle for anything less than joy unbounded, and glory filled dreams fulfilled.

4. Carpe Diem

Illustration

J. Howard Olds

In the movie, Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays the role of John Keating, a transformational teacher in a rigid, regimented private school. On the first day of Literature class, Keating takes his students down to the school lobby where trophy cases display the photos of earlier graduating classes. "Look at these pictures, boys," says Keating. "The young men you behold had the same fire in their eyes that you do. They planned to take the world by storm and make something magnificent of their lives. That was over 70 years ago. Now they are all fertilizing daisies. If you will listen [at this moment he leans into the boys], they have a message for you." As the students gaze at the photographs, Keating begins whispering, "Carpe Diem, Carpe Diem, seize the day, seize the day." Life is a gift here and now. Enjoy.

5. Humor: You Scared the Living Daylights Out of Me

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

The passenger, who was white as a sheet and whose eyes were as big as dinner plates, said, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize tapping you on the shoulder would scare you so badly."

The cabby said, "Well, it's not your fault. This is my first day driving a cab. But for the last 25 years, I drove a hearse."

6. The Man Who Died For Me

Illustration

Ronald Lavin

A mother living in a tenement house went shopping for groceries. While she was in the store, a fire engine raced by. She wondered, "Is the fire engine going to my home?" She had left her baby asleep at home. Forgetting about the groceries, she ran toward home. Her building had fire hoses aimed at it. It was burning like a matchbox. Rushing to the chief, she cried out, "My baby is up there." He shouted back to her, "It would be suicide for anyone to go up there now; it's too late."

A young fireman standing by volunteered, "Chief, I have a little baby at home, and if my house were on fire, I'd want someone to go up to save my baby. I'll go." The young fireman climbed the stairs; he got the baby, threw her into the rescue net, and just as he did, the house collapsed and he was burned to death.

The scene is 20 years later at a graveside. A 20-year-old woman is sobbing softly. Before her, at the head of this grave, is the statue of a fireman. A man stopping by asks respectfully, "Was that your father?" She replies, "No." "Was that your brother?" "No," she says. "That's the man who died for me."

7. Flexing Your Muscles

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

Unfortunately, a lot of people are like mummies, all wrapped up in themselves. And they don't want to become unwrapped. All they do is come unwound at the thought of coming out of their safe tomb or stepping out in faith. But Jesus calls us out of the tomb, sets us free and calls us to move beyond ourselves into a life of faith, commitment, obedience and service.

A body builder was a guest on a talk show. During the interview, host asked "Why do you develop those particular muscles?" The body builder simply stepped forward and flexed a series of well-defined muscles from chest to calf. The audience applauded. "What do you use all those muscles for?" the host asked. Again, the muscular specimen flexed, and biceps and triceps sprouted to impressive proportions. "But what do you USE those muscles for?" The host persisted. The body builder was bewildered. He didn't have an answer other than to display his well-developed frame. I was reminded that our spiritual exercises Bible Study and, prayer are for a purpose. They're meant to strengthen our ability to build God's kingdom, not simply to improve our pose before an admiring world.

Jesus calls us out of the tomb, sets us free and calls us to move beyond ourselves into a life of faith, commitment, obedience and service. When we just come to Church and sometimes read our Bibles and just enjoy the fellowship but nothing else, then we're like those body building guests. We're like mummies, still wrapped up in ourselves. Jesus calls us to move beyond self to a life of faith and committed service.

8. Like Clockwork

Illustration

Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

The Call to Worship had just been pronounced starting Easter Sunday Morning service in an East Texas church. The choir started its processional, singing “Up from the Grave He Arose” as they marched in perfect step down the center aisle to the front of the church.

The last lady was wearing shoes with very slender heels. Without a thought for her fancy heels, she marched toward the grating that covered that hot air register in the middle of the aisle. Suddenly the heel of one shoe sank into the hole in the register grate. In a flash she realized her predicament. Not wishing to hold up the whole processional, without missing a step, she slipped her foot out of her shoe and continued marching down the aisle.

There wasn’t a hitch. The processional moved with clock-like precision. The first man after her spotted the situation and without losing a step, reached down and pulled up her shoe, but the entire grate came with it! Surprised, but still singing, the man kept on going down the aisle, holding in his hand the grate with the shoe attached.

Everything still moved like clockwork. Still in tune and still in step, the next man in line stepped into the open register and disappeared from sight.

The service took on a special meaning that Sunday, for just as the choir ended with “Alleluia! Christ arose!” a voice was heard under the church shouting, “I hope all of you are out of the way ‘cause I’m coming out now!”

The little girl closest to the aisle shouted, “Come on, Jesus! We’ll stay out of the way.”

9. Look, He's Moving!

Illustration

Brett Blair

Three friends were discussing death and one of them asked: "What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?"

The first of the friends said: "I would like them to say, he was a great humanitarian, who cared about his community."

The second said: He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow," said another.

The third friend said, I would like them to say, "Look, he's moving!!"

10. Mr. Hooper Is Dead

Illustration

Brett Blair

In the summer of 1981, Will Lee, the actor who played an adult character named Mr. Hooper on the children's television show SESAME STREET, died. This posed a difficult set of issues for The Children's Television Workshop, producers of the show. Should they deal at all with the subject of death? If so, how would they explain it to their 10 million viewers, most of whom are under the age of six? A staff writer describes it this way: "We asked ourselves: What do we want the kids to know? What can they absorb? What might open up things we can't answer? We try to create boundaries around what we can safely teach without doing any damage."

Child-development experts who specialize in loss and separation provided some specific don'ts for dealing with death on the show: Don't say Mr. Hooper got sick and died, because you don't always die when you get sick. Don't say he was old, because children think their parents are old. Don't say he went to the hospital and died, because people go to the hospital all the time. The staff also decided to avoid religious issues, such as saying that Mr. Hooper had gone to heaven. What about the do's? Early on they decided they were going to say a few basic things. He's gone--acknowledge the reality. He won't be back. He'll be missed.

They also wanted the cast to express how they felt about Will. And they wanted the kids to know that death stimulates a full range of emotions. You're sad, you're angry, you're frustrated--all at the same time. The show that resulted aired on Thanksgiving so that parents could watch with their children.

In one segment, Big Bird walks on camera and says to the cast: "I just drew pictures of all my grown-up friends on Sesame Street and I'm going to give them to you." He passes out sketches and the cast members ooh and ahh over the likenesses. He's left with Mr. Hooper's picture. "I can't wait till he sees it," says Big Bird. "Say, where is he? I want to give it to him."

One cast member explains: "Big Bird, don't you remember? We told you . . . Mr. Hooper died. He's dead."

Big Bird says, "Oh yeah, I remember. Well . . . I'll give it to him when he comes back." Another cast member gets up from her chair and touches Big Bird saying, "Big Bird, Mr. Hooper's not coming back."

"Why not?" Big Bird asks innocently.

"Big Bird," explains the cast member, "when people die, they don't come back."

No they don't. That is the sad reality Big Bird that you and I learn as we grow older. But hidden under the dirt of the grave is a story, told in the death of Mary and Martha's brother, told in the death of Jesus their friend, told in the death of everyone of you brothers and sisters of Jesus. Resurrection! It is the greatest unfinished story of our times. Its author is penning the finish even as we speak. It is His story. He knows the conclusion. The curtain will soon fall. And then shall begin the end that shall not end. Resurrection! It's almost Easter Big Bird…and Easter tells me they do come back. Amen.

11. Do You Know Jesus?

Illustration

King Duncan

Mark Tabb, in his book, Greater Than Unconventional Thoughts on the Infinite God, tells a heartbreaking story that poses that question in a stark way. It is about a young boy in a rural area of Kentucky named Cody. Cody wanted to be a preacher when he grew up, just like his dad who was a pastor. Once or twice a week Cody would climb on top of a chair in the kitchen, pull out a Bible, and give his best sermon on John 3:16. He always used the same Bible verse. It was his favorite. "For God so loved the world," the verse begins, "that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Cody believed this promise, and he wanted to make sure other people had an opportunity to believe it as well. Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store with his mom or dad, he would ask the clerk, "Do you know Jesus?" He asked his teachers and the other kids on the playground the same question. That's what preachers do, Cody believed, and Cody wanted to be a preacher, just like his dad.

Mark Tabb attended Cody's funeral one snowy January afternoon several years ago. Cody was eight. Four days earlier, Cody died in a tragic accident. There lay Cody in a casket. His right hand clutched a rope. Cody loved tying knots. His favorite stuffed animal lay beside him, along with his Bible and a picture of his brother.

Mark Tabb reports that over two thousand people came through the funeral home in southern Kentucky the night before Cody's funeral. They all heard the same story of how Cody wanted to be a preacher, just like his dad. And they all heard the same question that Cody had asked friends and strangers alike: "Do you know Jesus?"

Tabb says he wishes he could report that a miracle occurred at that funeral and that Cody was raised from the dead just like Lazarus and given back to his parents whole. But it didn't happen. Still Tabb says he believes a miracle did occur that day. Cody's accident shook the entire community. As a result, everyone in town heard his story, and everyone in town heard his favorite question: "Do you know Jesus?"

12. The Inspiration for Solitude

Illustration

King Duncan

It appears that this version of the story, about how Ella Wilcox wrote Solitude, is urban legend:

A woman named Ella Wilcox once witnessed a woman sitting quietly by herself sobbing very noticeably in the middle of a train car. At first, Ella was a little bothered by the persistent weeping, but then she noticed another passenger in the car an older gentlemen who was sitting near the rear of the car. He was telling funny stories to the passengers sitting around him. Everybody smiled and chuckled along with the old man. After a while, some of the other passengers in the car started moving. They were getting up from their seats in the front, near the crying woman, and gravitating toward the back near the man telling the funny stories. Out of this experience, Ella Wilcox wrote these well-known words: “Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone.”

When you are weeping, you may feel alone, terribly alone, but you are not. There is One who weeps with you. There is One who will one day wipe away every tear from your eyes. This One has power over life and death. This One is Jesus Christ and he has the power to call you forth from your tomb of tears and give you life once again.

The real story behind the poem is more relatable to our daily lives:

"Solitude" is Ella Wheeler Wilcox's most famous poem. The idea for the poem came as she was traveling to Madison, Wisconsin, to attend the Governor's inaugural ball. On her way to the celebration, there was a young woman dressed in black sitting across the aisle from her. The woman was crying. Miss Wheeler sat next to her and sought to comfort her for the rest of the journey. In the days that followed, she could not shake off the experience, as she looked at the mirror, she could see the reflection of the crying woman. Ella set to write the opening lines for “Solitude” as she considered the image of the crying woman.

13. Jerry's Faith

Illustration

John E. Sumwalt

In the Lutheran parochial school I attended as a child I was taught to fear God, and that I risked punishment for sin. When I was 17 years old, my younger sister died of a brain tumor, and I began to question everything that I had been taught. I could not understand how God could allow this. Her death left me confused and angry. I became more of a doubter than a believer. I came to the conclusion that I could only believe in myself. I pushed myself, I worked hard; I became an over-achiever and eventually a workaholic. This program propelled me to financial success, but it was accompanied by personal failure. I learned that the love of money can bring financial gains that are accompanied by personal loss.

I became an empty person. I couldn't stand success and began to self-destruct. I lost everything, my friends, those who had pretended to be my friends and my family. It was all like an unbelievable soap opera -- and before it was over I learned quite a bit about the judicial system, the Mafia, extortion and revenge. There were times when I feared for my life and for the lives of the members of my family. It was the kind of situation that causes one to think about taking his own life.

But I wasn't ready for that option. The love I had for my children gave me courage and made me determined to try again. I wanted to be a believer in something bigger than myself, but it was difficult. It would take a miracle. I carefully planned a comeback. I wanted to be successful again and not make some of the same mistakes. The task seemed monumental.

In the process I met an independent preacher named Andy. He worked for me on a part-time basis and we soon became friends. He wasn't pushy with his religion, so I decided to go to one of his church services on a Wednesday night. It was quite unusual to say the least. Wednesday night was testimony night. The opening song service was quite an experience. The songs had beautiful melodies and were easy to sing. When they sang songs like "He Touched Me" and "O, How I Love Jesus," I noticed that many had tears in their eyes as they sang with great feeling. I felt touched by this, and quite uncomfortable. The testimonies that followed were as impressive to me as the song service. People spoke about what God had done for them, how God answered prayer and healed them. Was this real? Do they know a different God than I do, I wondered? It was all so confusing.

I didn't know if I could believe it, but I went back to observe more. I knew these people had something I didn't have. I guess it was a simple faith in God. It seemed like a good way to live, but I still wondered if it was real. If there was no God, I think we would have to invent one to keep our sanity. I tried to keep an open mind on the subject. I found myself reading the Bible because I was hungry for truth.

One Saturday night my mother called to tell me that my grandmother was gravely ill. I needed strength to face this so I went to church the next morning before going to the hospital to see her. That morning Andy spoke of the healing power of Jesus. I cornered him after church and said, "Andy, are you sure he heals today?" He was sure. I marked several of the healing promises in my Bible and then I went to the hospital. As I entered the waiting room, I saw that many of my relatives were there to pay their last visit to Grandma. The pastor of her church was about to get on the elevator after praying with her. I stopped him for a brief talk. I said, "Don't you believe God has the ability to heal people?" He assured me he believed that God does have the power to heal, but he added that we all have a time to die. I knew he was right, but a voice in the back of my mind said, "Prove me and know that I am God."

I followed my cousin and his wife into Grandma's room in the intensive care unit. When I spoke to Grandma she regained consciousness, and her smile told me that she was pleased to see her oldest grandson. I got right to the point. "Grandma, do you want me to pray that God will heal you?" She agreed. The four of us held hands and I prayed for her healing. It was a special moment. The nurses and other members of the hospital staff who were present stood with tears in their eyes. When I finished I had a feeling that Grandma was healed. My cousin's wife knew it, also. Grandma fell into a deep sleep. When we went out to the waiting room, my relatives were talking about Grandma being ready to pass away. The doctor had told them that she would not live through the day. I said, "Grandma is not going to die today. She is healed." I went home and then back to the church for the Sunday evening service.

On Monday morning my mother called to tell me that Grandma had made a complete recovery. I said, "What did the doctor have to say about this recovery?" She answered, "He said it was a miracle." I believe God knew just what I needed. I had the audacity to take God at his word, and God cared enough not to let me make a fool of myself.

Author's Note: Gerald Wagner shared this story of his grandmother's healing with a new member class in our church in the Spring of 1990. It is printed here in his own words. Mr. Wagner, an independent semi-truck driver, lives in Kenissha, Wisconsin.

14. Doubting Thomas

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

Tommy Russo tried and tried to go to church with his wife. Sophia Russo was the one who had been brought up in the church. Her parents had been very devout Christian people. With Tommy's parents it was completely different. They didn't attend church and they didn't make their kids attend either. At this point in their marriage, therefore, Tommy and Sophia Russo faced a real dilemma. Tommy had promised he'd give church a try. And he did. But the whole thing left him sort of cold. He just couldn't buy it all. There was just too much there that was unbelievable!

Tommy tried talking to Sophia about it one Sunday after they had been to church. "Can't we find some kind of compromise on this religion thing?" Tommy asked. But Sophia would have none of it. Her Christian faith meant the world to her. She was not about to compromise. She was not about to give up her faith practices. "You promised," she said to Tommy. "You said you would give it a try."

"But I have tried," Tommy replied. "How long do I have to go on with this anyway? I've been to church with you just about every Sunday for this whole first year of our marriage. Isn't that trying? What more do you want from me? Enough is enough. There's just too much about church and all that I just can't believe."

"What can you believe about it all?" Sophia asked.

"Jesus," Tommy blurted out after a few moments of silence. "I like Jesus. He makes a lot of sense to me at times. There's some very good advice about life in his teachings. But to buy into Jesus I've got to buy into too much other stuff that is not helpful at all. In fact, it just confuses the issue. Take this Virgin Mary business, for example. I mean, come on! Get serious. Stuff like that just doesn't happen. And what's the use of it anyway? Does it make Jesus any better than he already is? I don't think so. And then there's the miracles and the final miracle: 'he was raised from the dead.' I feel the same way about that as I do about his birth. So what? Jesus was a great man, a great teacher. I don't need all this miracle business. I honestly doubt that it really happened that way. Maybe the disciples just made it up for all we know."

At the end of their discussion, however, Tommy agreed to keep his promise and go with her on Sundays for a few more months. One Sunday the gospel reading caught him up short. It was about Thomas. That was his name. Thomas had doubts. So did he. He liked what Thomas had to say about Jesus being raised from the dead. "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." Tommy Russo couldn't have put it better himself. "If only I could see his body," he thought to himself. "If only I could touch his body. That's the way we Thomas people are."

Tommy's mind got fixed on the Bible's doubting Thomas. That's all he could think about for the rest of the service. That's what he thought about when he and Sophia went up for communion. "If only I could see his body. If I only could touch his body." And then Tommy's reverie was interrupted by the pastor's words. The words jolted his consciousness. It was just a simple word. "This is my body given for you."

15. Who Is Jesus?

Illustration

John R. Brokhoff

Now, more than ever, we need to face the question, "Who is the real Jesus?" Is the Christ of faith the Jesus of history? What is the truth about Jesus? What can we believe? We turn to the Apostles' Creed which has given the church's answer for 2,000 years.

Different Positions

It is not strange that the most popular question of our time is, "Who is Jesus?" Was this question not answered in Matthew 16:16 when Peter said to Jesus at Caesarea Philippi: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God"? In Jesus' day, too, there were different opinions about Jesus. When on a retreat with his disciples, he asked them what people were saying about him. The public was divided: Jesus was considered to be John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. What more of an answer do we need than the answer of Peter? Jesus accepted his answer as the truth, for he said, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven" (Matthew 16:17). Yet, after twenty centuries, we do not believe what Peter said about the identity of Jesus. According to a Gallup poll, 42 percent of Americans agreed with the statement: "Jesus is the Son of God." A recent report from Germany indicated that only one out of every four believe in Jesus Christ. Throughout Christian history down to the present, there are different views of Jesus. Now let us look at some of them.

1. The All-Human Jesus

Human

According to this position, Jesus is 100 percent human. It was held as early as the first centuries of Christianity by the Ebionites. They denied that Jesus was divine. He was only a teacher, prophet, miracle-man, and one with an outstanding character. But he was not divine, the Son of God. Today this view is held by many, including atheists, agnostics, Unitarians, Jews, Moslems, and other non-Christian religions.

2. The All-Divine Jesus

Divine

Opposite the Ebionites, Docetists held that Jesus was entirely divine. He was not at all human. This view was originally taught by Eutychus, a monk in a monastery near Constantinople. In the fourth century, Appolonarius, bishop of Laodicea, popularized the teaching. It was known as Docetism, from the Latin word docere meaning "to seem." It just seemed that Jesus was human. It was based on the idea that the physical and material were inherently evil. The human body therefore was sinful. Jesus therefore was not human, for God could not be identified with sin. Docetists held that Jesus' human nature was swallowed up by the divine. This denied the Incarnation, the biblical teaching that "the Word became flesh."

3. The Half And Half Jesus

Human/Divine

Nestorians took the view that Jesus was half human and half divine. It was taught by Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, in the fifth century. To this day it is a very popular understanding of Jesus. When we see Jesus hungry, thirsty, and tired, we say it was because he was human. When he struggles in prayer and on the cross cries out, "My God, why ...?" we see the human Jesus. On the other hand, Jesus is God when he walks on water, feeds 5,000, raises the dead, heals lepers, and rises from the grave. The problem with this view is that we have a divided Jesus -- two persons in one body.

4. The Adopted Jesus

Divine

Human

This is known as adoptionism. According to this position, Jesus came into the world as a human. Because of his moral excellence, his perfect obedience to God, his wisdom, his compassion for people, and his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross, the Father adopted him as his son at his baptism. This adoption was confirmed by the resurrection and the ascension. Jesus then became a deified man.

5. The Both And Jesus

Human & Divine

The above different positions concerning Jesus caused great concern, for the gospel was at stake. If Jesus were only human, then he was just a martyr on the cross and not the Lamb that took away the sin of the world. If he were only human, the resurrection was a fairy tale. His promises of forgiveness and eternal life were meaningless. His claims to know God and to be one with God would then be the words of a religious fanatic who was deluded into thinking he was the Son of God.

On the other hand, if Jesus were only divine and not human, humanity would be the loser. Because he was human, he became one of us. As a human, he fulfilled the law for us. Through his humanity we could see the nature of God. Above all, he became sin for us so that sin, through him, could go out of the world. As a human Jesus knows our human condition. Like all of us he was tempted and he showed that by the power of God we can overcome temptation to sin.

Consequently, the church had to take a stand on the question of Jesus. Is he only human, only divine, or half and half? In 451 A.D. the church held a council at Chalcedon to decide the issue. The church decided that it was not a matter of Jesus being fully God or fully human, or half and half, but it was a matter of both, both fully human and fully divine. To this day the church holds to this truth stated at Chalcedon:

We confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in manhood, truly God and truly man, or a rational soul and a body, of one substance with the Father with respect to the Godhead, and of one substance with us in respect of the manhood, like us in everything but sin ...

This is to say that Jesus is fully God and fully man. These two natures are blended into one integrated personality. He is not a split personality, nor does he suffer from schizophrenia. It is like a blender in your kitchen. Suppose you put apples, peaches, and pears in it and pushed the "on" button for a minute. Now what do you have -- apples, peaches, and pears? Yes, you do, but can you tell which is which? They have become one fruit, one substance. Also, it is like homogenized milk. When the raw milk comes from the farm, a dairy runs it through a homogenizer. As the milk runs through the machine, pistons compact the milk so that the cream and skim milk are made one. As a result you cannot take cream off the milk. In the same way, the human and divine natures of Jesus are compacted into one integrated person.

This means that the Father and the Son are one. When Jesus prays, God also prays. When the human Jesus suffers and dies on a cross, God is in Jesus enduring the cross. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19). When the human Jesus speaks, it is also God who speaks. When Jesus weeps, God weeps. This truth makes us realize the seriousness of the cross. It was not only a human on the cross, but God was there in Jesus. Good Friday is the day God died in Jesus. Indeed, the murderers did not know what they were doing; they did not know they were killing God! As the spiritual says, "Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble."

16. A Russian Resurrection

Illustration

Donald Dotterer

An old illustration about Russia with an update. You'll see in the update that Yancey picked up on a movement that seems to have held:

Columnist Philip Yancey, in an article titled "A Russian Resurrection," writes of his visit in October 1991 to the former Soviet Union. He says that it "would be hard to overstate the chaos that he found when he arrived in the Soviet Union, a nation that was about to shed its historical identity as well as its name." Yancey reports that one day the central bank ran out of money. Several days later the second largest republic withdrew from the union. There was a sense of crisis everywhere.

Doctors announced that the best hospital in Moscow might close its doors for lack of money. Crime was increasing nearly 50 percent a year. No one knew what the country would be like in a year or even six months. Who would be responsible for controlling the nuclear weapons? Who would print the money?

Certainly this once great empire was in confusion and turmoil. And yet Yancey found something else in his visit to Russia in the midst of chaos and financial hardship. An attractive young woman who was in charge of cultural affairs summed up the new attitude in Russia toward Christianity.

This Russian woman said softly but with great emotion: "We have all been raised on one religion: atheism. We were trained to believe in the material world, and not in God. In fact, those who believed in God were frightened. A stone wall separated these people from the rest."

Then she said, "Suddenly we have realized that something was missing. Now religion is open to us, and we see the great eagerness of young people. We must explore religion, which can give us a new life, and a new understanding about life."

There are now Russian language Bibles on display in the Kremlin government building. The church bells are sounding again, and the churches are full of worshipers. Women in babushkas are publicly kneeling in prayer outside the great cathedrals, an act that just a few short years ago would have required great courage.

So it is. Here is a genuine miracle of God in our time. As Philip Yancey concludes, here, in the former Soviet Union, which was officially atheistic until 1990, here in perhaps the least likely of all places, here were the unmistakable signs of an authentic spiritual awakening. Here were the signs of spiritual resurrection.

LATE 2018 UPDATE

In Russia, there is a religious revival happening. Orthodox Christianity is thriving after enduring a 70-year period of atheistic Soviet rule. In 1991, just after the collapse of the USSR, about two-thirds of Russians claimed no religious affiliation. Today, 71 percent of Russians identify as Orthodox. One can now see priests giving sermons on television, encounter religious processions in St. Petersburg, and watch citizens lining up for holy water in Moscow. Even Moscow’s Darwin museum features a Christmas tree during the holidays. President Vladimir Putin has encouraged this revival and he has also benefited from it, both at home and abroad. Last year, he explained that Russia’s intervention in the Syrian civil war was designed to protect Christians from the Islamic State. Not only has the Orthodox Church supported this “holy war” but so have some American evangelicals, who are likewise concerned about Christians in the Middle East and praise Putin’s socially conservative policies.

See: https://religionandpolitics.org/2018/10/16/russias-journey-from-orthodoxy-to-atheism-and-back-again/

17. Jefferson's Revision

Illustration

Brett Blair

Thomas Jefferson wrote these glowing words about Jesus: "his system of morality was the most benevolent and sublime probably that has been ever taught, and consequently more perfect than those of any of the ancient philosophers."

We have much to be grateful for in Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence is one of the greatest and most consequential documents ever written. But when it came to Jesus and Gospel who was not mainstream at all. At best Jefferson was a Rational Theist. He actually wrote his own revision of the Gospels. In that revision he mostly omitted everything supernatural, which is to say he removed all the miracles. All of them. Even the resurrection. His account of the gospel ends with the Crucifixion and the burial of Jesus. The last words in the Jefferson bible are: “They placed Jesus in the tomb and rolled a huge stone to cover the entrance.”

But it's an incredible thing to take a 1700 year old document and think that your editing, your taking out the theme, the climax, the bases for the entire story would improve on it's meaning. Without the resurrection Jesus sounds like an idiot. He's lying about himself. He's a lunatic. How can he claim to be all the things he said about himself and then just lie dead in a tomb? The resurrection is the evidence, the proof that he is who he said he is.

"They placed Jesus in the tomb and rolled a huge stone to cover the entrance." We are thankful those are not the last words of the gospel story.

18. Neighbors Who Never Met - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

What parable would make a man with three doctoral degrees (one in medicine, one in theology, one in philosophy) leave civilization with all of its culture and amenities and depart for the jungles of darkest Africa? What parable could induce a man, who was recognized as one of the best concert organists in all of Europe, go to a place where there were no organs to play. What parable would so intensely motivate a man that he would give up a teaching position in Vienna, Austria to go and deal with people who were so deprived that they were still living in the superstitions of the dark ages for all practical purposes. The man who I am talking about, of course, is Dr. Albert Schweitzer. And the single parable that so radically altered his life, according to him, was our text for this morning. It was the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

The Rich Man and Lazarus were neighbors, you know. They saw each other every day. Oh, not socially you understand, but there was contact. Every day the Rich Man saw this beggar at his front gate. Who were these men?

We shall call the Rich Man Dives [pronounced ‘Dive-ees': it's Latin for "Rich Man" as he has been called for centuries] Dives would have felt very comfortable living in our present time. He was a progressive kind of a guy. He was self-indulgent and this is the age of self-indulgency. The contrasting life-styles of these two men is so obvious that you can't miss it. Dives was a connoisseur, a lover of the arts, one who knows and appreciates fine living, four star restaurants.

We are told in vs. 19 that he habitually dressed in purple. Purple was known as the color of royalty because it was the most expensive dye in the ancient world. Only the upper echelon and the high priest could afford it. We are also told that his undergarments were made of fine linen. Linen, the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

The other man in the story is Lazarus. How can we describe Lazarus? Lararus is homeless. We are told in vs. 20 that he was a cripple. Lazarus barely made it from day to day, living off the leftovers thrown to him by Dives as he daily passed him. He is just a survivor, that's all you can say of him.

One day, said Jesus, both men died. Death after all is the great equalizer. Death does not care about your social standing, your color, or your standing in the community. Lazarus, said Jesus, was carried away by the angel of death unto heaven, where he occupied the seat of honor next to Abraham. About Dives, the rich man, all that Jesus says is that he was buried. Isn't that strange that that is all that he says? After all, Dives funeral must having been something that the community would remember for years to come. Apparently, however, that fact failed to impress Jesus. Oh, Jesus did add one additional fact about Dives' death that may be of interest to you. His soul was sent to hell.

This is an unnerving story. I can well see why this was the irritating grain of sand in Albert Schweitzer's oyster. Why is this story so bothersome? For a few moments this morning I would like to share exactly why. It is bothersome because….

First, it shows how God reverses the standards of the world.
Second, it is a terrible fate for a man who was not mean.
Third, the rich man begs to warn his living brothers.

19. Death and Resurrection

Illustration

We, as human beings, whoever we are and whatever station in life we are in, all stand on common ground when we realize that we all at sometime in life fear death, we all live in the presence of death, that all men, in some way or another, have been hurt by death. And it does not only touch the life of the elderly. In his preface of "Bread For the World", Author Simon reminds us that before we complete reading this brief preface that four people in the world will have died of starvation, most of them children. So no matter who you are, whether you are in the sunset years and expect to live fewer years than you have lived to date, or whether you are just beginning life's journey—death is real. All of the wars in the world have not increased the death toll by one. It robs people of valuable years of their life but it in no way increases the death toll, for all of us, one day, shall have to go through the experience of death.

I have always wondered about the cynics and non-believers. What do they do at Easter? Have you ever wondered about that. On that day when the Christian church joyfully celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, what do they do. Humanism is all right for the classroom, but it leaves you nothing at an icy graveside. It is precisely at that point that Christianity responds: Yes, we shall see our loved ones again and all be reunited.

Some demand that they need proof and documentation. I wonder what kind proof that they desire. There is more documented evidence that Jesus Christ rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived. There is more evidence of the resurrection than there is that Alexander the Great died at age 33. I have always found it interesting that some will accept thousands of facts for which there are only shreds of evidence, but in the face of overwhelming evidence of the resurrection they cast a skeptical doubt, because it is so unique. We say that we want the facts. Well the facts are that in the history of the ancient world the resurrection has been attested to as much as most of the events that we routinely accept and read in the history books.

In the early nineties the ABC news show 20/20 had an interesting segment on the shroud of Turin. If you were completely out of touch at that time and have not heard of the shroud of Turin, let me tell you that it is supposed to be the cloth that Jesus was buried in. And on this cloth is an imprint of the person of Jesus. It is now housed in a cathedral in Turin, Italy. Several years ago an international team of scientists, consisting of Christians, Jews, Moslems, and non-believers, set about to prove or disprove the story behind this ancient cloth. The results of their findings were published in an issue of National Geographic magazine.

The interesting thing to me about the 20/20 story was an interview that they had with one of the scientists, an Air Force colonel who was a specialist in laser technology. He openly admitted that he began the project not only as a non-Christian, but as a person who was openly anti-religious. I relished this opportunity, he said, to debunk what I considered a childish myth. Haraldo Rivera asked him: Now that you have spent four years on this project what is your response. His response not only shocking, but it was shocking that 20/20 allowed it to go on the air. He said: After four years on this project, I now fall upon my knees and worship a resurrected Christ.

It would be nice if we could hold some physical evidence in our hands to prove it all, but I would mislead you this Easter Day if I left the impression that the resurrection was a matter of fact. For in the end, the resurrection is a religious belief. In the end you cannot prove it or disprove it. And that is why some brilliant people believe and why some brilliant people do not believe. Because you cannot prove it one way or the other. There just are not any photographs. In the end we must fall back upon the words of the resurrected Christ to the disciple Thomas: Thomas, you have believed because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.

20. Christ Is Alive

Illustration

Kurt E. DeHaan

Why We Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead: If Jesus did not rise from the dead, the Christian faith is a foolish fantasy. However, if the resurrection of Christ did occur, it confirms His life, message, and atoning work. It is the basis of our hope of life beyond the grave. Christ is alive, and the evidence is overwhelming. Here are some of the reasons we can be so sure.

Jesus predicted His resurrection (Matt 16:21; Mark 9:9-10; John 2:18-22).
The Old Testament prophesied it (Psalm 16:10; compare Acts 2:25-31; 13:33-37).
The tomb was empty and the grave clothes vacant. if those who opposed Christ wished to silence His disciples, all they had to do was produce a body, but they could not (John 20:3-9).
Many people saw the resurrected Christ. They looked on His face, touched Him, heard His voice, and saw Him eat (Matt. 28:16-20; Luke 24:13-39; John 20:11-29; John 21:1-9; Acts 1:6-11; 1 Cor. 15:3-8).
The lives of the disciples were revolutionized. Though they fled and even denied Christ at the time of His arrest, they later feared no one in their proclamation of the risen Christ (Matt 26:56, 69-75).6. The resurrection was the central message of the early church. The church grew with an unwavering conviction that Christ had risen and was the Lord of the church (Acts 4:33; 5:30-32; Rom. 5:24).
Men and women today testify that the power of the risen Christ has transformed their lives. We know that Jesus is alive not only because of the historical and biblical evidence but also because He has miraculously touched our lives.

21. The Parable of the Five Brothers

Illustration

Joachim Jeremias

The first point is concerned with the reversal of fortune in the after-life (vv. 19-26), the second (vv. 27-31) with the petition of the rich man that Abraham may send Lazarus to his five brethren. . . [Jesus places] the stress is on the second point. That means that Jesus does not want to comment on a social problem, nor does he intend to give teaching about the after-life, but he relates the parable to warn men who resemble the brothers of the rich man of the impending danger. Hence the poor Lazarus is only a secondary figure, introduced by way of contrast. The parable is about the five brothers, and it should not be styled the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, but the parable of the Six Brothers.

The surviving brothers, who have their counterpart in the men of the Flood generation [Jeremias' reference to Noah's generation], living a careless life, heedless of the rumble of the approaching flood (Matt. 24:37-39), are men of this world, like their dead brother. Like him they live in selfish luxury, deaf to God's word, in the belief that death ends all (v. 28). Scornfully, Jesus was asked by these skeptical worldlings for a valid proof of a life after death, if they were to be paying heed to his warning. Jesus wanted to open their eyes, but to grant their demand would not be the right way to do so. Why did Jesus refuse it? Because its fulfillment would have been meaningless; even the greatest wonder, resurrection, would be in vain [in John 11:46 ff. the raising of Lazarus served to complete the hardening of the Jews]. He who will not submit to the word of God, will not be converted by a miracle. The demand for a sign is an evasion and a sign of impenitence. Hence the sentence is pronounced: "God will never give a sign to this generation" (Mark 8.12).

22. The Easter Formula

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

In April 2002, the well-respected Oxford University philosophy professor Richard Swineburne defended the truth of the Resurrection at a high-profile gathering of philosophy professors at Yale University. Swineburne used Bayes Theorem, a broadly accepted mathematical probability theory and tool to defend the truth of Christ's resurrection.

In a New York Times interview, Swineburne said, "For someone dead for 36 hours to come to life again is, according to the laws of nature, extremely improbable. But if there is a God of the traditional kind, natural laws only operate because he makes them operate." Swineburne used the Bayes Theorem to assign values to things like the probability that God is real, Jesus' behavior during his lifetime, and the quality of witness testimony after his death. Then he plugged the numbers into a probability formula and added everything up.

The results? There's a 97 percent probability that the resurrection really happened.

That's nice to know. It's one more tool in the tool kit of ministry. But the truth is that you and I don't really need that. The church doesn't really need that information. Because we have our own formula.

It's the Easter Formula: R+ET+F=LE. The Resurrection plus the Empty Tomb plus Faith equal Life Eternal. That's the Easter Formula.

23. Who Jesus Raised to Life

Illustration

Alexander H. Wales

If you ask most Christians who Jesus raised to life, the most common response you would get would be "Lazarus." How could we miss the story of the raising of the brother of Mary and Martha? The three days in the tomb caused the sisters to warn Jesus that Lazarus would "stinketh." What a great word, "stinketh"! It sounds like something you would say about a high school locker room after a big basketball game. The resurrection story found in the chapter 11 of the Gospel of John is THE story that springs to mind when we talk about the incredible power of Jesus even over the minions of death. But here in chapter 7 of Luke, we have another miraculous resurrection of an individual without much fanfare or comment: a miracle that ranks right up there with walking on water and bringing sight to the blind, but which gets less than exciting press coverage. I have a feeling that we tend to leave it alone because we get embarrassed by it.

You see, this is a miracle without much explanation or theological intrigue. It happens so quickly that we read it, swallow hard and move on.

24. What Are You Doing?

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

In 1905, we received a classic interpretation of this parable in the person of Dr. Albert Schweitzer. The truth of the parable finally penetrated his heart and Dr. Schweitzer wrote the following words: "We British (and Americans) are the rich people. Out there in Africa lies wretched Lazarus. Just as the rich man sinned against Lazarus because of his lack of heart and compassion, so the rich man would not put himself in Lazarus' place. Nor did the rich man let his conscience tell him what to do. And so we English (and Americans) have sinned against the poorest of the world at our gates."

And what did Dr. Albert Schweitzer do? He gave up his life and went to Africa. But that was over 100 years ago. The question is for you and me. "What did I do for Lazarus? What are you doing for Lazarus?" Are you and me merely brushing off the crumbs from our table?

25. FROM SOAP TO CERTAINTY

Illustration

John H. Krahn

Silhouetted figures made their way to the tomb as the first sliver of light graced the darkened earth. Jesus was dead. They still couldn’t believe it. It was like a bad dream of grand proportions. The ring of hammer upon nail still echoed in their ears; the horrendous sight of crucified bodies was burned indelibly into their brains. With him had died the hopes of eleven broken men. The sun had set on their lives, plunging them into forever darkness. Men and women who loved him, who believed in him, had their hopes raised to heaven only to then have them dashed to the depths.

A day of surprises was now dawning; the day of all days was commencing; a spirit of caring propelled the three women forward, not knowing how they would even be able to enter the grave. But God had opened the tomb. A rock, however big, would not block the Christ who spoke of faith great enough to move mountains. Entering the tomb, black Friday becomes Good Friday, hope returns to the hopeless, death is replaced by life.

Each of us has had our bad Fridays when someone has crucified our hopes, when someone close to us has scorned our love, when our hearts have worn the black band of betrayal, when we have sold our integrity for thirty pieces of silver, when the shadows of life outdistance the rays of sunlight. There is not one person who does not need healing in some aspect of his or her life. No one can stand before the cross and say, "Jesus, like you, I have no sin."

All of us know the Easter story, but what God really desires is that we all encounter the living Christ. I have seen the living Christ. I have been an eyewitness who has seen purpose enter into aimless lives. I have seen calmness overcome chaos. I have seen him strengthen the weak, bring healing to the sick, and comfort to the bereaved. I have seen him bestow joy and confidence to lives shattered by an angry and cruel world. I have experienced his presence in my life and in the lives of others.

I know that my Redeemer lives. I even know your Redeemer lives. If you know it too, praise God with your lives. Without the resurrection, death and taxes are the sum of life’s certainties. With Jesus Christ, our lives cease being daily soap operas and become divine certainties to be lived to the fullest with the final chapter to be played before the throne of Almighty God.

26. Saving Grace

Illustration

Donald Dotterer

George Bernanos, in a book titled Diary of a Country Priest, describes the ministry of a humble and unsuccessful country pastor. Most of the time the pastor is inept. The bored villagers he serves ignore him, his church all but deserts him. There is one wealthy parishioner who is particularly harsh on the poor minister. In part this is because of her personal bitterness toward God. However, as this woman draws near death, the priest somehow manages to break through the barriers and helps this woman to surrender her life to God. With his help, she is able to believe in eternal life.

The pastor shares these words with the woman at the moment of death. "Be at peace," he tells her. And as the woman kneels to receive the peace of Christ, the pastor prays to God: "May she keep it forever; it will be I who gave it to her." He prayed, "Oh miracle thus to be able to give what we ourselves do not possess, sweet miracle of empty hands. Hope which was shriveling in my heart flowered again in hers; the spirit of prayer which I thought lost in me forever was given back to her by God and who can tell perhaps in my name!"

27. Show Me a Sign

Illustration

A story from the "Sunday School Times" told of an Eastern king which illustrates at once our delusion respecting natural processes, and also God's work and presence in them. The king was seated in a garden, and one of his counselors was speaking of the wonderful works of God.

"Show me a sign," said the king, "and I will believe."

"Here are four acorns," said the counselor, "will you, Majesty, plant them in the ground, and then stoop down for a moment and look into this clear pool of water?"

The king did so, "Now," said the other, "look up."

The king looked up and saw four oak-trees where he had planted the acorns. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed, "this is indeed the work of God."

"How long were you looking into the water?" asked the counselor.

"Only a second," said the king. "Eighty years have passed as a second," said the other. The king looked at his garments; they were threadbare. He looked at his reflection in the water; he had become an old man. "There is no miracle here, then," he said angrily.

"Yes," said the other, "it is God's work, whether he did it in one second or in eighty years."

28. Immortality: Quality vs. Quantity

Illustration

Gary R. Habermas & J.P. Moreland

While none of the actual terms for immortality are found in the gospel teachings of Jesus, he addresses the subject in passages such as Luke 20:27-40 and John 11:25-26. Strawson claims that, for Jesus and his Jewish contemporaries, immortality was synonymous with resurrection (Jesus and the Future Life, p. 209). Murray Harris holds that, while the two terms are distinct, they are also inseparable, for the resurrection inevitably involves the acquiring of immortality. They are interdependent sides of the same truth. See his volume, Raised Immortal: Resurrection and Immortality in the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1983), pp. 199-201, 209-214, 232-236, for a stimulating and detailed study of this subject.

We also want to be clear that the term immortality is not to be confused with notions such as the Greek concept of immortality of the soul. Actually, three Greek synonyms (athanasia, aphtharsia, aphtartos) are used only eleven times in the New Testament (ten by Paul and one by Peter) to refer to the believer's life after death. In no case are these terms applied directly to the human soul. In fact, the Greek teaching had very little influence in Palestine anyway. For several reasons why Paul, in particular, opposed this Greek belief, see the next section of this chapter. Further, Paul specifically used immortality and eternal life in a related manner in Rom. 2:7 (cf. Gal. 6:8; 2 Tim. 1:10), while interchanging his references to immortality and the resurrection of the body in 1 Cor. 15:50-55. He thereby asserts that the term eternal life in the New Testament "refers primarily to quality ... secondarily to quantity ... Immortality, on the other hand, refers primarily to quantity ... and secondarily to quality" (see p. 199; cf. pp. 273-275).

29. Easter Without A Cross?

Illustration

In a certain church marketing newsletter, called the Church's Advertising Network, a campaign has been developed to attract people to church during the season of Easter. In this public relations campaign, it is suggested that the cross be removed from the alter. According to the author, a survey has revealed that the cross is one of those symbols that the new generation of church goers considered too "churchy " One pastor interviewed for the campaign gave his wholehearted endorsement. "We are going to attempt to concentrate on the resurrection, and not the death of Jesus.

Easter without the cross. Rather an interesting thought. Is it possible to have resurrection without crucifixion? No. It distorts the entire gospel if crucifixion is separated from resurrection. The road to the empty tomb will forever pass by a cross. The one who is raised from the dead is none other than the crucified Christ. Easter without a cross is a hoax.

30. It Is God's Will to Heal

Illustration

Glenn Pease

Modern doctors have confirmed that one of the keys to healing is the will. Those who believe God is willing to heal them have a better chance of experiencing a miracle. Those who do not believe that God is willing to heal can die, even when it is not medically necessary. Dr. Bernie Siegal in his book, Love, Medicine & Miracles, has many examples. He specializes in cancer surgery, and has many examples of people who are fatalists about cancer. When they hear that they have it, they lock in on the idea that death is inevitable, and God is not willing to deviate from the statistics.

Irving was a financial advisor, and when he was told he had six months to live with his liver cancer, he refused to think otherwise. He said, "I've spent my whole life making predictions based on statistics. Statistics tell me I am suppose to die. If I don't die, my whole life doesn't make sense." He went home and died on time.

15 to 20% of his cancer patients do this, for they say there is no willingness in the universe that it be otherwise. But Dr. Siegal started a therapy group called, Exceptional Cancer Patients. He discovered there are another 15 to 20% of his patients with the same cancers who refused to believe there is no willingness in God to heal them. In fact, they believe just the opposite. They believe it is His will to heal no matter how bad they are, and how grim the statistics. These people break all the rules, and like the leper in our text, they walk away clean from hopeless situations.

Miracles take place when people are convinced someone is willing to heal them. These exceptional cancer patients refuse to be victims. They are the doctors worst patients. They will not follow the herd and do as they are told. They question everything, and demand answers and explanations for everything, and if it doesn't make sense to them, they won't do it. They are independent, but they are the ones who are most likely to get well. Those who never question, and just go along with the routine, are ideal patients, but they are the ones most likely to die.

31. Which Kingdom?

Illustration

James Merritt

I heard about a Sunday School teacher that told his class about the story of the rich man and Lazarus. He highlighted the good end of Lazarus and the bad end of the rich man. He pointed out how one man went to hell and the other man went to heaven. He also pointed out how rich one man was and how poor the other man was. After the teacher taught his lesson he said to the class, "Now which would you rather be, boys, the rich man or Lazarus?" One boy raised his hand and said, "Well, I'd like to be the rich man while I'm alive, and Lazarus when I'm dead."

Well, that's what we all wish, but you have to decide which kingdom you are going to be a part of on this earth. You've got to decide what you are going to surrender your life to on this earth. You've got to decide before you leave this earth where you are going to spend eternity after you leave this earth. Whatever decision you make, when you die you will live with for all eternity.

32. SHOUT: HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Illustration

John H. Krahn

An empty tomb greeted the women who came to anoint Jesus’ body that first Easter morning. What a surprise to find the huge stone rolled away ... no guards and most startling of all - no body. Suddenly two angels appeared to them and asked, "Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He has come back to life again!"

Who among us today would visit a cemetery to pay our respects to someone who is alive. Yet many Christians act as if Jesus were just another dead historical figure. But he lives! That’s the Easter message. In a world filled with so much bad news this is God’s good news for each of us.

Break out the smiles, for now there is hope for you and me. Christ not only overcame his death but overcame ours too. We need only believe in him. I haven’t the slightest doubt that the Lord is still in the resurrection business. Nothing in life is more important than our appointment with destiny - our date with death. When we know Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection, we are prepared for even that.

The very earliest Easter greeting in the ancient church consisted of one person shouting to another, "The Lord is risen!" and the other shouting back, "He is risen indeed!" As you read this, let’s share the greeting with each other right now. Don’t be shy. I’m going to shout, "The Lord is risen!" And I want you to shout back at me with a big smile and all the breath you have, "He is risen indeed!" Now let’s see those smiles beginning. Ready! "THE LORD IS RISEN!" What is your reply?

33. Your God Is Too Small

Illustration

Harold H. Lentz

The woman with the issue of blood was filled with faith. She really believed that by simply touching the hem of Christ's garment a miracle could be effected. She is an example to us of great faith, and how it is rewarded.

We may be committed and praying Christians, but do we think large enough thoughts about God? Do we really believe that God can do anything? Year's ago there was a book titled: Your God Is Too Small. That title is a wake-up challenge to all of us. If we believe in an all-powerful God, it should be reflected in the confidence with which we turn to God in prayer. "Ask and you shall receive," Jesus urged. Yet we often wonder whether or not God can really help us. Wake up to the power which God possesses, power he has promised to use on our behalf.

34. Deus Interruptus

Illustration

Jerry Goebel

Jesus and the disciples had been in Capernaum on the north side of of Sea of Galillee and now headed for Bethsaida (on the NE side of the Sea of Galilee) when the evening's storm blew them to Gennesaret instead (the NW side of the Sea of Galilee), essentially blowing them backwards -- in the opposite direction that they wanted to go. Notice our Lord's response. He does not tell the Apostles to set out to sea and try again. Instead, he disembarks and begins to minister to the people around him. Christ's response is to see the storm as God's will and to minister appropriately wherever he lands.

How do I respond when my day is blown off course? Do I respond to daily (or even major life-changing) "inconveniences" by looking for God's purposes or do I become angry and frustrated at the "interruption" of my plans and purposes?

I have found that the higher my personal agenda; the less I am able to see God's purpose in my daily "interruptions." Yet, I have also found that when make myself available to "Deus Interruptus," incredible and miraculous things frequently happen. Have you ever considered beginning your day by "giving God permission to alter your agenda at any moment and any time?

"Dearest God, feel free to interrupt my agenda today with yours at anytime or in any place."

Note: Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead. It's possible that for Jesus this is not an unanticipated diversion in travel plans. Jesus had just taught his disciples that God would provide and involved them more deeply in this miracle than at any other time. Now he forces (Gk. anankaz?, an unusually strong verb, “to compel, force”) them to take a boat to the other side. I believe that he knows what is to happen, and that he functions like the Spirit, who “drove” Jesus out to be tested in the wilderness (1:12; note the amount of wilderness imagery in 6:31–44). This is to be the disciples’ test. It is also possible that there are unruly elements in the crowd, and Jesus does not want his disciples caught up in any messianic fervor (in John 6:14–15 we are told the crowd tried to make Jesus “king by force”), but there is no hint of that in Mark (Baker Publishing Group, Teaching the Text, by Grant R. Osborne).

35. EASTER POWER

Illustration

John H. Krahn

Easter is a magnificent day! It is the most significant day of the entire year. It is a day of celebration ... the finest clothes, lilies trumpeting their beautiful fragrance, Christian fellowship, joyful greetings ... nothing can be too good. On Easter we celebrate new hope and the possibility of living life to its fullest. God is saying to us that his blessings and love are ours. Good and even great days are now possible for us with the best of days still to come in heaven.

What problems lurk in your life? Are you afraid of death? Are you afraid of life? Easter proclaims that you can be victorious over any problem that you might face. Victory can be yours by believing in Easter and by appropriating Easter into your daily life.

But what is Easter? Easter is power. The power of God released which raised a dead Son after he had been in the grave for three days. Many gravestones carry the inscription, "Here lies ...," but on Christ’s tomb are the words, "He is not here." In Joseph’s garden is history’s only empty grave. I believe Christ rose from the dead, and I believe the resurrection power of God is still being unleashed today.

God wants to resurrect us from whatever defeat is in our lives and then give us a victorious death. He wants to resurrect us from a life of loneliness and gloom into one of meaning and joy. He wants to resurrect us from a life deadened by fear to a life enlivened by confidence. He especially wants to resurrect us from our own personal death into his very own personal paradise.

So roll back the stone of any unbelief in your hearts, behold the glory of the empty tomb, and thrill to the power that can now be yours. Place your weak and trembling hand into his and say with Thomas, "My Lord and my God." Belief in Jesus and his resurrection is the key that delivers us from fear and sorrow. Jesus is the key to personal happiness, to peace, and to life everlasting. You can know this peace, you can know this joy, you can have this power, if today you will commit yourself to him, and then say with your whole heart, "I know that my Redeemer lives!"

36. We Want Proof

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

There is a reason why many Christians around the world have latched so quickly and tenaciously onto the discovery of what may be the ossuary or burial box for James, the brother of Jesus. There's a reason why every time archaeologists discover some inscription referring to King David, Pontius Pilate, or some other biblical figure that this news immediately makes a splash in the pages of Christianity Today. Here, we are told, is further "proof" that the stuff in the Bible really did happen! There's a reason why there is now a huge enterprise that is literally scouring the universe for evidence that the formation of the cosmos required the hand of a Creator God. It's not just that we want to meet evolutionary and atheist scientists on their own turf--most folks also quietly hanker for something tangible that can bolster the confidence they have in their faith. Over and again we find ourselves wanting more.

Jesus himself knows that faith is both a blessing and a miracle. That's why he says in verse 29 that while it was one thing for Thomas to believe with Jesus standing right in front of him, it would one day be quite another thing to believe without such undeniable physical proof standing in the same room.

37. Turning Point

Illustration

John R. Steward

When I was in college my professor and good friend Dr. James Kallas would speak of the resurrection of Christ as being similar to the turning point in a war. He would use the Battle of the Bulge in World War II as an example. In recent years you could point to the Gulf War against Iraq. I remember how so many people predicted that this would be a very bloody war. They would point out how large Iraq's army was and that we should be prepared for many casualties coming home injured or in body bags. People were genuinely concerned and it was somewhat uncertain just how things would work out. Then the war began with the fighter jets bombing Iraq. In only two or three days, the Americans had obtained air superiority. When air superiority was achieved, there was no longer any doubt as to who the victor would be in that war. However, it was not at that moment when the war was over or when the killing would stop. It was the turning point in the war when we knew for certain who the victor would be in the end.

That is how it is with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His resurrection is the turning point in the battle with "sin, death, and the power of the devil." We now know that, in the end, the ultimate victory is ours because of the resurrection of Jesus. "

38. Easter Is No Mythical Metaphor

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

In recent years, the New Testament has been brutally attacked by radical scholars of the so-called "Jesus Seminar." They regard all miracles, especially the Resurrection, as "mythical metaphors developed by the EarlyChurch." Some revisionist scholars have concluded that Jesus arose only in the sense that his spirit goes marching on, sort of like the way the spirit of Abraham Lincoln continues to influence America.

But William Lane Craig, perhaps the world's foremost authority on Resurrection, dismisses such a theory. Dr. Craig is an English scholar with two earned doctoral degrees. Currently, he teaches at the University of Louvain near Brussels. Dr. Craig points out that it would have been a contradiction in terms for an early Jew to say that someone was raised from the dead but his body was left in the tomb. Furthermore, Dr. Craig points out that numerous disciples were executed because they would not deny the Resurrection. No sane person would die for a mythical metaphor.

39. Resurrection Order of Events

Illustration

Merril F. Unger

Order of the Events of the Resurrection

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome start for the tomb, Lk 23:55-24:1
They find the stone rolled away, Lk 24:2-9
Mary Magdalene goes to tell the disciples, Jn 20:1-2
Mary, the mother of James, draws near and sees the angel, Mt 28:1-2
She goes back to meet the other women following with spices
Meanwhile Peter and John arrive, look in and depart, Jn 20:3-10
Mary Magdalene returns weeping, sees two angels, then Jesus, Jn 20:11-18
The risen Christ bids her tell the disciples, Jn 20:17-18
Mary (mother of James) meanwhile returns with the women, Lk 24:1-4
They return and see the two angels, Lk 24:5; Mk 16:5
They also hear the angel's message, Mt 28:6-8
On their way to find the disciples, they are met by the risen Christ, Mt 28:9-10
Post-resurrection Appearances: To Mary Magdalene Jn 20:14-18; Mk 16:9
To the women returning from the tomb Mt 28:8-10
To Peter later in the day Lk 24:34; 1 Cor 15:5
To the disciples going to Emmaus in the evening Lk 24:13-31
To the apostles (except Thomas) Lk 24:36-45; Jn 20-19-24
To the apostles a week later (Thomas present) Jn 20:24-29
In Galilee to the seven by the Lake of Tiberias Jn 21:1-23
In Galilee on a mountain to the apostles and 500 believers 1 Cor 15:6
At Jerusalem and Bethany again to James 1 Cor 15:7
At Olivet and the ascension Acts 1:3-12
To Paul near Damascus Acts 9:3-6; 1 Cor 15:8
To Stephen outside Jerusalem Acts 7:55
To Paul in the temple Acts 22:17-21; 23:11
To John on Patmos Rev 1:10-19

40. Our Lord's Abundant Table - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

Charles Swindol tells a funny story about a nine-year-old named Danny who came bursting out of Sunday school like a wild stallion. His eyes were darting in every direction as he tried to locate either mom or dad. Finally, after a quick search, he grabbed his Daddy by the leg and yelled, "Man, that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was great!" His father looked down, smiled, and asked the boy to tell him about it.

"Well, the Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased after them. So the Jews ran as fast as they could until they got to the Red Sea. The Egyptian Army was gettin' closer and closer. So Moses got on his walkie-talkie and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians. While that was happening, the Israeli Navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over. They made it!

By now old dad was shocked. "Is THAT the way they taught you the story?"

Well, no, not exactly," Danny admitted, "but if I told you the way they told it to us, you'd never believe it, Dad."

With childlike innocence the little guy put his finger on the pulse of our sophisticated adult world where cool skepticism reigns supreme. It's more popular to operate in the black-and-white world of facts…and, of course, to leave no space for the miraculous.

And so when we read the story of the feeding of the five thousand, we tend to focus our attention on the question, "Did it really happen?" There have been a number of attempts to "explain" the miracle. One attempt says that the people were so moved by Jesus' generosity and the generosity of the little boy that they brought forth the food they had hidden under their clothes and in their traveling pouches. This way everyone was satisfied. Another theory says that the story is not really talking about physical hunger but spiritual hunger. When the small amount of food was passed around everyone tore off a minuscule symbolic fragment. In this Jesus is said to have satisfied the thirst of the soul not the stomach.

I think these questions say more about us than they do Jesus. If Jesus is the Messiah, and I believe he is, then there is no question but that he performed miracles, and on a regular basis. The point of the story of feeding of the five thousand is not to prove that miracles happen. The point of the story is to teach us three things:

1. Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Word.
2. We Are to Serve at the Table of the Lord.
3. We Can Use Our Abilities in Service.

41. THE HAUNTING QUESTION

Illustration

John H. Krahn

T. S. Eliot, atheist author turned Christian, once asked the question, "Where is the life we have lost in living?" Having many opportunities to talk with dying people, I have often sensed their pain as they looked back. Words of emptiness and unimportance permeate their reminiscence. Somehow they got into a rut and lost hold of life with all its beauty and excitement. Weeks become months. Months became years. So fast. So routine. So deadening. One year hardly distinguishable from the next. And so the haunting question, "Where is the life we have lost in living?"

Healthy people desire happy and meaningful lives and try to avoid ruts of every kind. Jesus Christ once said, "I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly." He too desires that our lives be everything we want them to be and even more. When we are in close communication with him, we discover his plan for a meaningful life. He is willing to give us an abundant life if we desire it.

But some people mistakenly believe that to be a Christian one must make two lists: one list of the things you like to do and the other of the things you don’t like to do. To them, the Christian must do everything he doesn’t like to do and must avoid everything that he likes to do. How foolish! Christ came to enhance lives, add joy, clear away the ruts and broaden our vision of the Father’s world. To be alive in Christ means to enjoy the miracle of NOW ... today, each moment. A tender kiss becomes more meaningful, a laugh more enjoyable, a good cry more beneficial. Life is not merely lived but celebrated.

"Where is the life we have lost in living?" For those who know Christ well, this haunting question becomes irrelevant.

42. And Their Eyes Were Opened

Illustration

Larry Powell

Some years ago, a movie titled Zapata depicted the engaging story of the famous Mexican hero, Zapata. He was to the Mexicans what "El Cid" was to the Spanish: a redeemer of his people. Those who loved Zapata were radically devoted to him and his cause. At the end, when Zapata was ambushed by government troops, the white horse upon which he had led countless charges, escaped into the hills. The peasants violently refused to believe that their leader would have allowed himself to be ambushed and killed, and whenever they caught a glimpse of the white horse in the hills, they claimed that it carried Zapata, signaling to them that he would return. They fully expected the return, but in time, the expectation died.

Although Jesus attempted on several occasions to interpret specific events to his disciples, as well as to prepare them for his certain return, not one of them was prepared. As Carlyle Marney once said, none of them lay hidden in the shrubbery near the tomb ... waiting ... waiting. Judas had gone off somewhere and hanged himself. The others were scattered, afraid, stroking their wounds, trying to recover from the total collaspe of everything. They had not been prepared for the crucifixion, much less the Resurrection. The post-Resurrection appearances mentioned in our scripture caught them totally by surprise. Two observations about the particular appearance described in our text:

1. The two men were on their way to Emmaus, discussing events pertaining to the crucifixion. Jesus caught up to them in the midst of their own journey, becoming a part of it himself, and in the end, baptizing it with his blessing. Those of us in the church believe that this is still the way Christ often comes into our lives. Off on our own journeys, pursuing some goal or objective, totally submerged in our own concerns ... determined, ambitious, outrunning the spiritual life while in full stride toward that which we hope to achieve. And then, it happens. In half-step we are arrested by the sudden awareness of another presence; we had not expected it, nor do we always recognize it immediately. It just abides, and just as with the Emmaus travelers, it comes into clearer focus in due time. As the Holy Spirit accompanies us in our own journeys, it is hoped that somewhere along the way it may be with us as it was with them; "And their eyes were opened and they recognized him" (v. 31).

2. It is significant that Jesus was made known to them in the "breaking of bread." In the upper room Jesus had taken the elements of the Passover meal and transformed them into something completely different. The familiar ritual was changed from remarks about the Passover to references to the "body and blood" of the host. In a very real sense, Jesus’ messianic identity was uniquely made known to them in the breaking of bread in the upper room. Then, at Emmaus, he was again "made known" in the breaking of bread. There are other references to post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus at which his presence was made known around a meal (see Mark 16:14; John 21:9-14). Little wonder that early Christians quickly associated a mystical significance with the meal, more specifically, the Eucharist. Consequently, the church observed communion several times daily with the prayer, "Maranatha" (Come Lord!).

The expected return of Zapata was never fulfilled, and eventually the expectation faded. The unexpected return of Jesus of Nazareth took even his followers by surprise. Ironically, it seems that he must still catch us from behind.

43. Standing Ovation

Illustration

Robert P. Dugan, Jr.

We Americans do not adequately appreciate the political process in our nation. During the campaign, I often recounted a nightmarish 1938 incident from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, by way of contrast:

A district party conference was under way in Moscow Province. It was presided over by a new secretary of the District Party Committee, replacing one recently arrested. At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for. Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to his feet during the conference with every mention of his name). The hall echoed with "stormy applause, raising to an ovation." For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the "stormy applause, rising to an ovation," continued. But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who adored Stalin. However, who would dare to be the first to stop? The secretary of the District Party could have done it. He was standing on the platform, and it was he who had just called for the ovation. But he was a newcomer. He had taken the place of a man who'd been arrested. He was afraid! After all, NKVD men were standing in the hall applauding and watching to see who would quit first! And in the obscure, small hall, unknown to the leader, the applause went on six, seven, eight minutes! They were done for! Their goose was cooked! They couldn't stop now till they collapsed with heart attacks! At the rear of the hall, which was crowded, they could of course cheat a bit, clap less frequently, less vigorously, not so eagerly but up there with the presidium where everyone could see them?

The director of the local paper factory, an independent and strong-minded man, stood with the presidium. Aware of all the falsity and all the impossibility of the situation, he still kept on applauding! Nine minutes! Ten! In anguish he watched the secretary of the District Party Committee, but the latter dared not stop. Insanity! To the last man! With make-believe enthusiasm on their faces, looking at each other with faint hope, the district leaders were just going to go on and on applauding till they fell where they stood, till they were carried out of the hall on stretchers! And even then those who were left would not falter... Then, after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory assumed a businesslike expression and sat down in his seat. And, oh, a miracle took place! Where had the universal, uninhibited, indescribable enthusiasm gone? To a man, everyone else stopped dead and sat down. They had been saved! The squirrel had been smart enough to jump off his revolving wheel.

That, however, was how they discovered who the independent people were. And that was how they went about eliminating them. That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he had signed Form 206, the final document of the interrogation, his interrogator reminded him: "Don't ever be the first to stop applauding!"

44. The Reality of the Resurrection - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

100 years ago few people thought it possible that man could fly. No one except the two sons of Rev. Milton Wright who at 10:35 on the morning of Dec. 17 1903 made their first successful flight of 175 feet in a airplane driven by a four cylinder combustion engine. Today we fly much more sophisticated crafts around the moons of Jupiter. It was very hard to believe 100 years ago today but the evidence of that first flight is all around us today.

200 years ago the borders of the United States stretched from the Atlantic to the Mississippi river and none other than Napoleon Bonaparte in France granted her the rights to trade on the Mississippi, and the held the right to impose a duty on every ship that sailed out of the mouth of the Mississippi in New Orleans. What made matters worse is that it looked like Napoleon was going to close the rights to the Mississippi to the Americans entirely. There was no way to expect Napoleon to give up this kind of control. But a U.S. ambassador to France, Robert R. Livingston, concocted a plan to trump Napoleon, and he played that trump with a flourish. He made it known in the right circles that the United States was considering settling its difference with Great Britain and reconciling with her politically. This Napoleon did not want. He was already close to war with England. So when James Monroe, who would later become president, along with Livingston, approached Napoleon?s men with the idea of a land treaty, they agreed. And on May 2, 1803 the Louisiana Purchase was made for three cents an acre. The humor in it all is this: Livingston and Monroe were never commissioned to make such a purpose. But now standing on the eastern banks of the Mississippi River 200 years ago it was hard to believe that the US would ever have the rights to that 828,000 square mile area. But it doubled the size of the United States and the evidence of that great purchase is all around us today.

300 years ago on June 17, 1703 a young boy named John was born to Rev. Samuel and Suzanna Wesley in Epworth England. It was perhaps no surprise that John grew up to become a priest himself. What was a surprise is the kind of ministry he implemented. He formed a small religious study group, which put special emphasis on methodical study and devotion. They had communion often, fasted twice a week, and as they grew they added other things: social services, visiting prisoners, care for the poor, and they even ran a school. Onlookers called them Methodist and it wasn't a polite term, it was said to mock them. When John left the group, it disintegrated. But the name stuck and the evidence of that early movement is all around us today. In almost every town in this country there is a Methodist Church.

There are events in life that amaze us, fill us with joy, and make us wonder whether it really is possible. It is hard to believe, even standing on this side of history, that some of these things were ever accomplished. They are impossible stories that positively happened.

2000 years ago 11 men gathered to discuss in private their next move. They were frightened and confused. Life seemed to be closing in on them and it was not possible for them to continue their three-year-old ministry. Here were the facts: They were betrayed by one of their own. The crowds had turned on them. Their leader had been executed. They had denied their relationship to their leader. And any further development of their leader's ideas would almost certainly mean their own deaths. Into this hopeless scene walks a man they never expected to see. They were so startled by this event that, to a man, they feared they were seeing a ghost. The resurrection amazed them, filled them with joy, and turned their lives around. It's an impossible story that positively happened and the evidence of the resurrection is all around us today.

What amazes you about the resurrection of Jesus? What impossible aspects of it fill you with joy? Let me share a couple of things that are amazing to me.

1. First, the reality of the resurrection amazes me (36-43).
2. Second, the scope of our mission amazes me (44-49).

45. BE EASTER PEOPLE

Illustration

John H. Krahn

After the tomb was found empty and Jesus appeared to the early church on many occasions, doubt disappeared, and the early church had overwhelming confidence in the Lord. The church today must live and be about its ministry with the same Easter confidence. We say we rely on God’s mercy for our salvation; we need to give over all areas of our lives to God’s control. What aspects of ourselves are outside God’s control? Our temper? Our money? Our time? We need join the psalmist and say, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Our trust in the Lord must be complete. We are no longer defeated people but powerful Easter people. Little children in danger or in despair literally run and throw themselves into the arms of their mother. This is confident faith. When was the last time we ran and thrust ourselves onto the Lord? A cautious step in his direction is better than none at all, but believing with abandonment is called forth by an empty tomb. God wants us to fall head over heels in love with him so he can bring the greatest joy and purpose possible into our lives.

God also encourages us to hold fast to hope without wavering. Scripture says, "Where there is no hope, the people perish." Too many of us view too much of our lives and the world as hopeless. Without hope, no great strides will be made in the future; there is no venturesome faith without hope. Without hope we burrow into the ground and live the life of a mole instead of walking freely in God’s sunlight. In a difficult situation, a hopeful people find the challenge and opportunity to do something great with God.

Confident in our faith, with an unwavering hope, the Lord also encourages us to stir up one another to love and good works. We must do something. Faith and hope must move from the abstract to the particular.

Easter people are called upon to celebrate the Festival of the Resurrection each Sunday, for each Sunday is a little Easter. "... Not neglecting to meet together," is how it is written in Hebrews. To break fellowship with the worshiping community is to pursue a weakening faith. It is also a form of denial of all that Christ means. True faith, strong faith, is never faith in isolation but must always be faith shared and strengthened through regular worship. We must encourage one another to be regular in worship and strong in the faith.

The end is drawing near. The Lord will return soon to reclaim his fallen creation. When the Lord of the church comes again, how will he find us? Will we be acting like people who have been touched by the meaning of the cross and the empty tomb? Therefore, let us continue to draw near to the Lord with a true heart and a confident faith. We hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. We consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. We do not neglect to worship but encourage one another. In sum, we will all be Easter people.

46. Miracles Are Part of Our Lives

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

The word, "miracle," and the experience of the miraculous, is in no way confined to Biblical times or the first century. The word, "miracle," and the experience of the miraculous, is very much part of our modern world and our everyday lives. In spite of all the technological advances and scientific sophistication that is part of the modern world, the word, "miracle," is still very much part of our contemporary vocabulary and the experience of the miraculous is very much part of our everyday lives.

Let me illustrate. You open the refrigerator door and you pull out a jar of Miracle Whip, a mayonnaise that spreads so nicely across your bread. Or you pull out a small, flat bag and put it into the microwave, and "wallah!," it puffs up and you have instant popcorn, and you say, "What a miracle!" ..... You go out to the garden and you pour Miracle Grow onto your plants and they flourish so splendidly, thanks to Miracle Grow. ... A rocket is shot up into the air and a man for the first time plants a footprint on the moon, and everybody called it a miracle. ... It wasn't that many years ago that penicillin was discovered and everyone called it a miracle drug. Soon after that, in the early 1950s, Dr. Salk discovered the Salk vaccine to vaccinated against polio and all of our parents said it was a miracle, that children didn't have to fear polio any more. And more recently, the smallpox vaccinate was given to children throughout the whole earth and there is not one case of smallpox anywhere on the globe and everybody would agree that is a miracle. And when a vaccination or the equivalent is discovered for cancer or cancers, the headlines will shout for joy: "Miracle drug found for cancer!" ... There was a car accident the other day and the body of the car was totally smashed, and those who saw the car exclaimed: "It is a miracle that anyone came out of that car alive." ... Births and adoptions often evoke the word, miracle. A baby is born, and the parents almost automatically say, "This is a miracle," and the parents who have been struggling with infertility for five, ten, or fifteen years, when their child is born, truly believe that their child is a miraculous gift from God.

The word, "miracle," and the experience of the miraculous is very much part of our modern lives, even in a scientific age. Our intuitive definition of a miracle isn't so much "magic happened" or natural laws were violated; but that the sequence of events and timing of events convince us that God has intervened and saved us or helped us. And miracles are very much part of our lives.

47. Looking for Signs

Illustration

Larry Powell

Several years ago I was a member of the Arkansas delegation which attended a jurisdictional seminar of some sort in Dallas, Texas. Our delegation included an exceptional Christian gentlemen, whose name you would probably recognize, just recently assigned as the Episcopal leader of the Arkansas Area. As a matter of fact, he had moved into the Episcopal residence only two weeks prior to the seminar. One evening as we filed slowly past a buffet table to fill our plates, I chanced to be behind two members of the conference from which the new bishop had come. One of the gentlemen nudged his companion, nodded toward the new bishop, and said under his breath, "Does he look like a bishop to you?" The companion continued to heap up his plate, smiled, and softly replied, "No way." Apparently, they saw no sign of authority in his gentle manner, no sign of dignity in his congeniality, no sign of spiritual aura about his unpretentious appearance. Brother, were they wrong!

Some people are always looking for signs. It is not a new thing under the sun. How many times do you suppose it was remarked behind Jesus’ back, "Does he look like a messiah to you?" Joseph’s son he was; a carpenter by trade, wearing a mother-made robe, keeping company with the blue-collar element, and stirring up everything that had been settled. Oh, there were signs all right ... signs that he was in league with the Prince of Darkness: a miracle here, an exorcism there, taking liberty with the Scriptures, condemning the establishment. How could any rational person believe him? But rational people did believe him. What is more, many believed him without a sign. That is actually the emphasis of what we are about here ... that he was believed without a sign.

1. The Gospel according to John tells us that many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the testimony of the woman at the well (4:7-30). However, let us hasten to verse 42; "They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’ "

2. John further relates that when Jesus came to Capernaum, an official prevailed upon him to heal his son who was at the point of death. Jesus said, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe" (v. 48). The official impressed Jesus by answering, "Sir, come down before my child dies" (v. 49). In other words, without benefit of signs, the man already believed. Jesus rewarded the official’s faith by saying, "Go; your son will live" (v. 50). Now, take notice of the response: "The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way" (50). He believed before the sign (4:51-53).

Is your belief contingent upon a sign? If so, what? A supernatural event, a special feeling, a bush of fire, or on the other hand, is your belief and faith in Christ operative beyond dependency upon signs?

48. The Reason Why

Illustration

Staff

On February 15, 1947 Glenn Chambers boarded a plane bound for Quito, Ecuador to begin his ministry in missionary broadcasting with the important "Voice of the Andes." But he never arrived. In a horrible moment, the plane carrying Chambers crashed into a mountain peak and spiraled downward. Later it was learned that before leaving the Miami airport, Chambers wanted to write his mother a letter. All he could find for stationery was a page of advertising on which was written the single word "WHY?" Around that word he hastily scribbled a final note. After Chambers's mother learned of her son's death, his letter arrived. She opened the envelope, took out the paper, and unfolded it. Staring her in the face was the question "WHY?"

No doubt this was the questions Jesus' disciples asked when He was arrested, tried, and crucified. And it was probably the questions Joseph of Arimathea asked himself as he approached Pilate and requested the Lord's body (v.58). It must have nagged at him as he wrapped the body in a linen cloth, carried it to his own freshly hewn tomb, and rolled the massive stone into its groove over the tomb's mouth. In the face of his grief, Joseph carried on. He did what he knew he had to do. None of Jesus' relatives were in a position to claim His body for burial, for they were all Galileans and none of them possessed a tomb in Jerusalem. The disciples weren't around to help either.

But there was another reason for Joseph's act of love. In Isaiah 53:9, God directed the prophet to record an important detail about the death of His Messiah. The One who had no place to lay his head would be buried in a rich man's tomb. Joseph probably didn't realize that his act fulfilled prophecy. The full answer to the why of Jesus' death was also several days away for Joseph and the others. All he knew was that he was now a disciple of Jesus and that was enough to motivate his gift of love.

49. In the Know

Illustration

Michael Horton

One of the earliest and most potent threats to early Christianity came from the heretical group known as the Gnostics. Blending elements of Christianity, Greek philosophy, and oriental mysticism, the Gnostics denied the orthodox view of God, man, and the world, and Christ. The apostle John included them in the camp of the Antichrist.

The Gnostics were so called because of their view of revelation. The word gnosis is the Greek word for "knowledge." In many cases the Gnostic heretics did not make a frontal assault against the apostles or against the apostolic teaching of Scripture. In fact, many of them insisted that they were genuine, Bible-believing Christians. It wasn't that they rejected the Bible; they just claimed an additional source of knowledge or insight that was superior to or at least beyond the knowledge of Scripture. The "Gnostikoi" were "those in the know." Their knowledge was not derived from intellectual comprehension of the Scripture or by empirical research, but was mystical, direct, and immediate. God "revealed" private, intuitive insights to them that carried nothing less than divine authority.

Here is a typical Gnostic statement: "We cannot communicate with God mentally, for He is a Spirit. But we can reach Him with our Spirit, and it is through our Spirit that we come to know God….This is one reason God put teachers (those who are really called to teach) in the church to renew our minds. Many times those who teach do so with only a natural knowledge that they have gained from the Bible and other sources. But I am referring here to one of the ministry gifts. Those who are called and anointed by the Spirit to teach. God has given us His Word, and we can feed upon that Word. This will renew our minds. But He also puts teachers in the church to renew our minds and to bring us the revelation of the knowledge of God's Word." (Kenneth E. Hagin, Man on Three Dimensions (Tulsa, Okla.: Faith Library, 1985), 1:8,13.)

Notice that this quotation does not include a direct assault on the Bible. The Bible is recognized as God's word. But in order to understand the Bible we need something beyond our natural mental ability. We need the Spirit-anointed teachers to "bring us the revelation of the knowledge of God's Word." This is a typically Gnostic statement, but the quote is not from Valentinus or any of the other early Gnostics. It is from the pen of a modern missionary of Gnosticism, Kenneth E. Hagin. It is from Hagin's Man on Three Dimensions. Hagin's theology echoes the tripartite epistemology of early Gnosticism (man as having three separate entities: body, soul, and spirit).

Robert Tilton also claims a direct pipeline to divine revelation: "God showed me a vision that almost took my breath away. I was sucked into the Spirit . . ., caught away . . . and I found myself standing in the very presence of Almighty God. It just echoed into my being. And he said these words to me. . . exactly these words . . ."Many of my ministers pray for my people, but I want you to pray the Prayer of Agreement with them" . . . I have never seen the presence of God so powerful. This same anointing flooded my Spirit-man . . . It's inside of me now, and I have supernatural faith to agree with you. From that day forth, as I have been faithful to that heavenly vision, I've seen every kind of miracle imaginable happen when I pray the Prayer of Agreement with God's people." (Robert Tilton, newsletter from Robert Tilton Ministries, Word of Faith World Outreach Center, Box 819000, Dallas, TX75381.

It seems that in Robert Tilton the church is blessed with a twentieth-century apostle whose visions of revelation exceed that of the apostle John and whose miracle powers surpass that of the apostle Paul. If we are to believe Tilton's astonishing claims, there is no reason we should not include his writings in the next edition of the New Testament.

Paul Crouch of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), has revelatory dreams and has warmly embraced the neo-Gnostic dogma. His network has become a prime distribution center for the growing movement. Kenneth Copeland also receives phrases from God in "his spirit."

50. The Magic in Easter

Illustration

David E. Leininger

Somewhere or other I heard of a Sunday School teacher who had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing off the only way in or out. Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, and the surprise of Easter morning, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus' first words when he came bursting out of that tomb alive."

A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. It belonged to a most excited little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted out excitedly, "I know, I know, I know."

"Good," said the teacher, "Tell us."

Extending her arms high in the air she sang out: "TA - DA!"

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