Jesus repeatedly shocked and awed His
followers. He needed to demonstrate His
Way of Revealing His Living-Waters so
as to give to them a glimmer into His
Rule, His Meanings, His Understanding,
His Divine Emmanuel, God-With-Us.
John 8:23 KJV
And he {Jesus} said unto them, 'Ye are
from beneath; I am from above: ye are
of this world; I am not of this world.'
He used concrete everyday events to bring
His Light through parable's analogies.
His spiritual landscape was designed to
overcome our blindness, our weaknesses
and our selfishness right where we live.
Mark 7:17 KJV
And when he {Jesus} was entered into the
house from the people, his disciples asked
him concerning the parable. [18] And he
saith unto them, 'Are ye so without (any)
understanding also? Do ye not perceive ...?'
I am facinated by their complete and utter
failures. Our LORD Jesus was also shocked
whenever He communicated deep symbolic
truths with profound implications and then
saw how no one really understood Him.
He was surrounded by both those who were
following as well as those who publically
ridiculed Him finding fault with everything.
John 11:11-12 NKJV
These things He said, and after that He
said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps,
but I go that I may wake him up." [12] Then
His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will
get well." [13] However, Jesus spoke of his
death, but they thought that He was speaking
about taking rest in sleep." [14] Then Jesus
said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead."
I can only imagine how Jesus waited for
the death, burial and emtombment four days
in the cave of His friend, Lazarus.
Both Mary and Martha believed but told
Him that if He had been there earlier, then
their brother would not have died. Jesus
was too late. Death's decay had begun to
cause the body to stink in the cave-tomb.
John 11:37 NKJV
And some of them said, "Could not this Man,
who opened the eyes of the blind, also have
kept this man from dying?"
No one would be able to offer the lie that
Lazarus was faking it to support the LORD.
Everyone knew that Lazarus was dead.
Lazarus was not hiding in the cave waiting
for the signal to come out. He did, however,
die by faith in the resurrection of the
righteous unto the LORD.
John 11:26 NKJV
"And whoever lives and believes in Me
shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Jesus provided to all those witnesses His
Heavenly Reality by coming against death
when He commanded a resurrection.
John 11:43-44 NKJV
Now when He had said these things, He
cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come
forth!" [44] And he who had died came
out bound hand and foot with grave
clothes, and his face was wrapped with
a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him,
and let him go."
If our deaths are viewed by the LORD as
though we were just sleeping, then waking
us up to eternal life is simply a given result
of the LORD having overcome all sin and
death.
Again, our LORD awakens with His Word:
Mark 5:39-42 NKJV
When He came in, He said to them,
"Why make this commotion and weep?
The child is not dead, but sleeping."
[40] And they ridiculed Him. But when
He had put them all outside, He took
the father and the mother of the child,
and those who were with Him, and
entered where the child was lying.
[41] Then He took the child by the
hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi"
which is translated, "Little girl, I say
to you, arise." [42] Immediately the girl
arose and walked, for she was twelve
years of age. And they were overcome
with great amazement.
He holds all the Keys to the Kingdom of
God and nothing, not even our deaths,
will stop Him from raising us up to meet
Him in the clouds and then the air.
John 5:25 KJV
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God: and they
that hear shall live."
