Martha, Jesus and Lazarus Part III - an exegesis...

Hello all,

I hope you're recovered from the last message – and really examining yourself to see if you are in the faith.

My last message I was posting as to when I believe Jesus was returning in His Kingdom. Now – back to the main point.

“Great blog but I'm afraid I disagree. Here is why? there are verses that don't match up with your beliefs.”

Here are a few of those verses and I'll do a break down for each:

i - 2 Peter 3:10 -But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

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I love this verse – when people help support it for a future coming of Jesus. Yet in the next breath – they will talk about how we are to be refined like gold through a fire/furnace?

Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

We know that the passage of Zechariah is a figurative explanation – as we won't go through physical fire but rather we will be refined by Fire(The Holy Spirit) through the Word of God. Why doesn't this same figurative explanation apply to 2 Peter 3:10?

The elements will be destroyed with intense heat – and the earth and its works will be burned up. All those works will be done away with – just not in the physical sense. Again – this is in a figurative sense. God is not a physical God – God is Spirit – and those who worship him shall worship him in truth and in spirit(see John 4).

ii - Thessalonians 4:16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.
Jeremiah 25:30 The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout.
Psalm 50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: ... and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
note: "Tempestuous" means "turbulent and stormy." The second coming of Jesus will clearly be noisy beyond description. There will be nothing secret about it!

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Yes – the LORD himself did descend from heaven with a shout. This isn't a secret and I believe it wasn't a secret when the Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem essentially blown off the map by the Romans. Ask the internet when The Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was left desolate.

iii - Matthew 24:30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.

Note: This is too clear to misunderstand. Every person alive, wicked or righteous, will see Jesus return to earth. A secret gathering, or "rapture," of God's people is not described in the Bible.

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Matthew 24:30 – such a lovely verse. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the TRIBES of the earth mourn,

It's interesting that the Bible talks about the tribes. The tribes the Bibles makes reference too are the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus himself says that all the tribes would see him return.

One thing missing from Revelation 1:7 – is who would see His return. If we leave that part out – we're missing out on WHO would see His return

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen

They who pierced him would see him. Those who pierced him have been dead for nearly 2 millenia. How can they see him if they are already dead?

Now – to better understand what Jesus is saying in Matthew 24:30 in regards to “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” - let's examine this a little bit more.

Matthew 26:64-65

 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.   65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 

Now – I always wondered and asked myself – why did the high priest(Caiaphas) tear his clothes? Something was said here that a Pharisee would know. Something was said to be in such rage.

For this – I recommend reading Psalm 18. Read Psalm 18 in it's fullness. This is a Psalm about David pleading for his life – begging for God to save him from his Enemies. How can God do such a thing without judgement? Essentially God does come in Judgement – but look closely at verse 9:

He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

Now – did God actually come down? Again – this is a metaphor, figurative language – just like many Bible verses are. This is how Jesus said he would return. No wonder Caiaphas was angry that he tore his clothes. Caiaphas knew that Jesus was making a reference to coming in Judgement and delivering the innocent from his enemies. Jesus was pointing out at who was guilty here – and the High Priest didn't like it.

Now – perhaps my views are different from yours – does it make them not Biblical? Absolutely not. As said before – I just see the verses from a different perspective than you.

There will be more to come on this – God bless.

Martha, Jesus and Lazarus Part II - Has Jesus already returned?

Hello Again,

So based on some of the comments I received on my last blog post – I thought it would be a good idea to write another blog based on the Martha, Jesus and Lazarus one.

One comment I received started with this:
Great blog but I'm afraid I disagree. Here is why? there are verses that don't match up with your beliefs.

Now (before I go through those verses) – how does one identify what my beliefs are – when one simply disagrees with my views because there are verses that don't match up with this view – or do they?

This is where the paradigm shift and hermeneutics come into play.

Example: I didn't say she stole my money.

Depending on which word you stress – this simple sentence has 7 different meanings.

What does this mean? I'm looking at Bible verses from a certain point of view – while others look at it from another point of view.

Either one of these things can be considered to be flawed – and why do I say this? Simply because each one of these views can do things – interpret the Bible in such a way to fit their Viewpoint.

Example: If Jesus returned at His second coming(Parousia) in 70 A.D. - then the Bible would have to point to all of this. If Jesus has a yet future return – then the Bible would have to point to all of this.

So – let's look at a few Bible verses:

Matthew 16:27-28

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.   28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Now – I've asked people this question: If this is true – if there were some people standing there, as Jesus spoke these words, that they would not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom – why aren't there people walking the earth approximately 2000 years old?

Why haven't we heard of these miracles yet? How many would come to Jesus immediately if there were people walking the earth that are 2000 years old – because that would be considered impossible.

The thing is – there aren't people that are 2000 years old walking the earth. Yet, Jesus said some people standing there would not taste of death, till they saw the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

So – this leaves us with 2 scenarios. 1 – Jesus lied. 2 – Jesus has already returned in his kingdom.

Now, there is the 3rd scenario that doesn't fit into what Jesus said here – and that is Jesus would have a future Second Coming(Parousia).

I hold very strongly to the Words that Jesus said within the Bible. If I were to recommend someone to start reading the Bible. I'd ask them to start reading the 4 Gospels. From there, I'd probably have them re-read the 4 Gospels again – just so that they can soak in what Jesus is saying. From there, go back to the Old Testament, read one Book at a Time and then go back through the 4 Gospels and repeat until the Old Testament in Complete. Once the old Testament is complete – I'd have them move forward and read the rest of the New Testament – no need to read the 4 Gospels between each Book of the New Testament – but definitely is an option.

One would be soaked up in the words of Jesus, that I believe the Bible would be seen in such a different way. Our method for wanting to understand what Jesus is trying to say would be laid out before us.

Example:

Matthew 19:3-8 ¶The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?  4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,   5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?  6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.   7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?  8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

Now – ask yourself one question. If we know Jesus is God(John 1:1-3) and he's speaking to the Pharisees about one of the laws – what's going on through Jesus' mind when he's saying this passage?

Jesus shows just how much God loves us in this passage. God has a bond between Israel and Himself - and that the law of divorcement was for the hardness of our hearts. I'm sure God didn't want such a law – but because of His love for us gave us this law that we could potentially live in peace. Now to better understand this passage – yes the Old Testament is required – BUT – this also has an impact with Jesus and the Church. How can Jesus be married to His Bride(the church, or the New Jerusalem) – if God is already married to Israel?

The point I'm trying to get at – is the question we should be asking ourselves when reading scripture is what is God trying to teach me – rather than what does this mean for me or what do I get out of it?

Many people – even believers – have this thought that God owes us all these things because we believe in Jesus. Because of this – we go reading the Bible with this sense of – what Blessing am I entitled to now, rather than what is the Bible going to teach me today?

So – let's return to the one main question. Do you believe that one of the disciples who was standing in the presence of Jesus is still alive today? If you're answer is no – then clearly Jesus has returned in his kingdom. If you're answer is yes – I'd like to hear your Biblical explanation on this.

So – to get back to the paradigm and hermeneutics of the Bible – if I hold to what Jesus said in Matthew 16:27-28 – I go with the fact that Jesus has already returned in his kingdom. If he has – then the question becomes – when did Jesus return?

Martha, Jesus and Lazarus....

Wow – how the Lord leads us down paths we don't always expect.

A friend of mine today asked me to read John 11:1-26 – essentially to find out if I believed what Jesus said in those verses, along with everything else in this passage. Yes I do, believe what Jesus said – so my friend then asked me:

“So, how would you explain that Martha said she knew Lazarus would be raised on the last day and when Jesus explained to the disciples that Lazarus is asleep which means death. If he was heaven he would have been upset to be taken out.”

So a little bit of insight on this – I do believe in a Second Coming(Parousia) of Jesus. I just believe this event happened in 70 A.D. at the destruction of the Jewish Temple which is when Jesus said He would return(see Matthew 24) and not in a Future coming. Now – to try and understand, this would mean to stop asking Biblical questions based on a Future return – but ask the Biblical questions based on if He has already returned.

So – Martha said she knew Lazarus would be raised on the last day. Well – when is the last day? The New Testament makes note of the “last days” as people refer to it and Simon Peter makes note at Pentecost that they were in the “last days” fulfilling the prophecy from Joel(see Acts 2:17).

So – we know those were the last days - BUT what is the LAST DAY that Martha was referring to? This last day was the referral of the coming judgment onto the Nation of Israel – this is also known as the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord (see Joel Chapter 2 for more info).

Now – Martha knew this, and it's nice to see Jesus didn't correct her on this teaching – but rather pointed out something else.

 I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:   26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Jesus clearly states – that whoever believes in him – even though they are dead – they shall live again. I think this clearly points out that Lazarus was not in Heaven.

Why wouldn't Lazarus have been in Heaven? Well what's something Jesus also teaches?

John 14:1-4 1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.   2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.   3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, thereye may be also.   4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Jesus had to die – in order to be able to go and prepare a place for them. I think for one to really understand this – they need to understand the 2 deaths that Revelation makes mention of to know what happens.

Now – I'd just like to mention something. Even if Lazarus was in Heaven – why would he have been upset to have left, if he was in the presence of the Holy of Holies Himself – Jesus?

I believe that in itself would've been a blessing. Why be upset with God's plan? Aren't we to submit to God and appreciate His will? If Lazarus was indeed in Heaven – would he not better understand what Jesus taught when He taught us to pray?

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Now – Jesus does say that Lazarus was asleep to his disciples – and later has to explain it as Lazarus was dead. Could it be Jesus understood what asleep meant but we couldn't understand such a Heavenly concept that Jesus had to explain it in SIMPLE terms and say “look – he's dead ok?” I believe Lazarus was asleep in the sense that his spirit was resting and was asleep – waiting for the Resurrection – which is on the LAST DAY.

I don't believe thousands or millions of souls are waiting for the last day to be raised up that we who remain shall be raised up with them. I believe that those souls are in heaven and with Jesus. Those of us who remain, upon physical death – if we are believers shall be raised up with them.

This is it for now – if I get more questions based on these topics – I'll definitely do a part II.