BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
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BIBLE STUDY LESSON
For the week beginning Sunday
March 9, 2014
____________________________________________________________
DEALING
WITH DEATH
(The
certainty of the resurrection helps believers to deal with death)
John
11
The sins of Adam and Eve ushered
into the world, “physical death”, and by contrast, the resurrection of
CHRIST JESUS, ushered into the world, “spiritual life”. “I AM the
RESURRECTION and the LIFE” is the fifth of JESUS’ seven great “I AM”
statements that are found in the Gospel of John. The resurrection of CHRIST
marked the start of a new age in human history that is still present
today, because JESUS is still LORD over all of life, both the
physical, and the spiritual.
When we accept the Eternal life
that JESUS has to offer, the end of physical life becomes the beginning of a
much more anticipated, spiritual life of eternity in Heaven in the glorious
presence of the ALMIGHTY GOD. And so, in JESUS’ resurrection we also see the
birth of the “Christian Hope”. Anyone who believes on JESUS already has
“Eternal Life” (John 6:47).
In the gospel according to the
Apostle John, in chapter 11, taking up at verse 17, we see JESUS arriving at
Bethany some four days after HIS friends, Mary and Martha, had summoned HIM
by messenger. They had sought JESUS out to tell HIM of the declining health
of their brother Lazarus, who was also a close friend of JESUS’. They
had wanted JESUS to hurry to Bethany so HE could heal their brother from what
turned out to be a fatal sickness.
The day that JESUS got word of
Lazarus’ illness, HE informed HIS disciples that the illness would not
result in a permanent demise, but rather, would be an event staged by
GOD for HIS OWN glorification (v.4). And so they lingered on where they
were for two more days before making the two-day journey to
Bethany, just a few miles outside of Jerusalem.
When Martha got word that JESUS
was near, she ran down the road to meet HIM. When she came to HIM she said to
HIM, “LORD, if you had been here my brother would not have died. But even
now I know that GOD will give YOU whatever YOU ask”. Here we see in this
statement by Martha, that, even in the short time since JESUS had begun HIS
ministry, it had already become quite noticeable that nobody ever died while
HE was around. It is a statement that was later echoed by her sister Mary,
as soon as she came upon JESUS, at the burial site of her brother Lazarus.
We, as Christians, are all too
well familiar with the ending to this, now famous, biblical account of what was
then considered to be, JESUS’ greatest miracle. “I AM the RESURRECTION and
the LIFE” is what JESUS said to HIS friend Martha in John 11:25. For JESUS
is LORD, over both, the “physical” and, the “spiritual” life. Our belief in
HIM infuses in us a spiritual life that will persists, even after death.
That is why the greatest miracle of JESUS was not raising Lazarus back to the
physical life, because we all know that, Mary and Martha’s brother would again
die. The greatest miracle was, and is, in JESUS’ power to grant endless
spiritual life to those, who believe in HIM.
JESUS goes on to tell Martha that,
“those who believe in HIM, even though they die like everyone else, will
live again. They are given eternal life, just for believing in HIM, and will
never die. And HE then asked HIS friend, “Did she believe?”
In John 11:27 Martha makes what I
consider to be, one of the great “confession statements of faith” in all
the annals of New Testament biblical history. Here she states, “I have
always believed YOU are the MESSIAH, the SON of GOD, the ONE WHO has come into
the world from GOD”. Here she confesses three things about JESUS that are
paramount to our understanding the theology of Christianity.
·
First, we must
understand that JESUS is the MESSIAH, WHO died on the cross at Golgotha for
our sins.
·
Secondly, we must
know that HE is the SON of the LIVING GOD, and the most precious thing that
GOD could give us as a sacrifice, simply because HE so loved the world that HE
created.
·
And finally, we must
know that JESUS is the only ONE WHO was qualified as a perfect sacrifice,
which is GOD’s unwavering requirement for sin.
Salvation for us was the reason
that GOD sent HIS only begotten SON into the world. JESUS had to be born of
woman, so that HE could die for all mankind in general, and all Christians, in
particular. This account of JESUS’ raising Lazarus from the dead, back into
the physical life, presents us with a perfect picture of what JESUS does
spiritually for all who choose to believe in HIM. But in our case, we will
be raised into a spiritual eternal life, never to die again, as Lazarus would
later be. And we will live in the very presence of the ALMIGHTY GOD in Heaven,
as no doubt, Lazarus now is. We will be forever removed from the deadness of
sin in this life, and placed into an eternity of love and joy with
CHRIST JESUS our LORD in the life to come.
THE PLOT TO KILL JESUS
John 11:45-57
Although many of the people who
witnessed JESUS’ raising of Lazarus from the dead believed on HIM, there were
still others who sided with the Sanhedrin. A few of those unbelievers
quickly went and reported this miraculous event to the high priests and
Pharisees at Jerusalem. The news was so disturbing to the religious hierarchy
that they decided to call an emergency session. They feared that the Romans
would react in an adverse way to this news and possibly destroy the temple, and
maybe even, Jerusalem.
Normally, the position of high
priest was a lifetime appointment, but in those days, the Romans appointed the
high priest to his position, because they feared the power a man could gain by
holding a position of that magnitude in Jerusalem for life. At that time,
Caiaphas was the appointed high priest of the Romans. He served that position
from A.D. 18 to A.D. 36. It was Caiaphas, whom GOD used to unwittingly prophecy
that JESUS was to die a sacrificial death for the nations (John
11:49-52). It was during that meeting that they officially issued an “All
points bulletin” for the arrest of JESUS on sight (John 11:57).
At this time JESUS decided to
remove HIMSELF from public ministry, and went to the town of Ephraim, about
fifteen miles north of Jerusalem, near the wilderness of Judea. There HE began HIS
exclusive private teaching of HIS disciples, which continued up until the
eve of HIS crucifixion.
When the time of the Passover
came, many arrived early to go through the traditional cleansing process before
the feast began. At that time there was much talk around Jerusalem, and
especially in the temple, concerning the whereabouts of JESUS. Some, no doubt,
wanted to hear HIM teach there, as HE had normally done, but, rest assured,
there were others, who wanted to report HIM to the Pharisees so HE could be
arrested.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER-
Official Website
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