The Bible has some things in it that are really hard to believe. For instance, on the very first page, it says that God created everything. He just spoke and things were created; like Mars and Jupiter and the sun and the stars, all that really big stuff. Then, on the very last pages of the Bible it talks about strange looking creatures flying in the heavens and fire coming down and destroying the earth along with a bunch of plagues and other terrible things, not to mention a lake of fire and a bottomless pit.
A lot of the Bible is history and poetry and people just living life. That part is O.K. I mean history is history, and poetry is poetry, right? That stuff is believable, right? Some king did this, and another king did that. Someone built a city and someone else tore it down. That factual kind of information is not too hard to swallow. It's the same kind of thing you read about and learn in high school and college.
But, it is not easy to believe some man lived to be more than 900 years old before he died. Or, that another guy built a huge boat so a bunch of animals could be rescued from a world wide flood along with his family. Those kind of things just don't happen in my everyday life, like fire coming down from heaven, or bread loaves (whatever manna was) floating down to my door step every morning. So, it doesn't bother me a whole lot when someone has a hard time digesting what is in the pages of the Bible.
Let me tell you one of the things that kind of pushes me over into the "I believe" column. It is the story of Lazarus in the 11th chapter of the book of John. Strange story it is, and yet if it is true, then I don't have problem with a lot of the other things in the book. The long and short of the tale is that a man named Lazarus died and was wrapped in burial clothes. He was put into a tomb in the side of a hill, and a rock was rolled in front of the opening. Jesus showed up 4 days after the man died and was placed in the tomb. He greets the family and then asks someone to roll the stone away from the opening of the cave. A sister of the recently deceased says that it has been 4 days since his passing and the body is probably smelling badly by now. Perhaps it would be best if the stone is left in place.
I know, I know – someone can always say, "well, the poor guy was just in a coma and weak from his illness. He really didn't come back from the dead, he was just recuperating from his illness laying there in that cave." I have to admit, I was not there. I'm just reading the book. But, it sure seems like people back then could tell the difference between dead people and sick people who were not quite gone yet. They were not exactly strangers to death in their country given the Roman army and its occupation.
Well anyway, the next thing you know you have Jesus standing in front of this open cave and roaring with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." Now, I don't know what happened inside that dark smelly cave. I've never, ever, ever, ever seen a dead body return to life. I grew up with my share of vampire and werewolf movies from the 1940's and there were a lot of people coming back to life in the movies. But, that was make believe, it was the movies.
When you open the Bible and read the 11th chapter of the book of John, you are reading a story that says that a well known man in the community named Lazarus, whose sisters were Mary and Martha, a man who was dead for 4 days came back to life because Jesus commanded him to do so. Sends shivers down my spine and makes the hair on my neck stand up. If I believe that Jesus can do "that," then I don't have much problem with a lot of the other things in the Bible. Is it any harder to create an ocean or a planet, than it is to order a dead man to live again? I can't do either, can you?
The scary part of the story is this: if Jesus can order one dead man to rise and live again, then he can probably order the rest of us to rise and live again too once we are gone. If so, maybe the rest of the Bible isn't so far fetched after all.
JN 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 11:38-44 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
Wonder who was more surprised? Lazarus or the people watching him come out of the tomb?
A lot of the Bible is history and poetry and people just living life. That part is O.K. I mean history is history, and poetry is poetry, right? That stuff is believable, right? Some king did this, and another king did that. Someone built a city and someone else tore it down. That factual kind of information is not too hard to swallow. It's the same kind of thing you read about and learn in high school and college.
But, it is not easy to believe some man lived to be more than 900 years old before he died. Or, that another guy built a huge boat so a bunch of animals could be rescued from a world wide flood along with his family. Those kind of things just don't happen in my everyday life, like fire coming down from heaven, or bread loaves (whatever manna was) floating down to my door step every morning. So, it doesn't bother me a whole lot when someone has a hard time digesting what is in the pages of the Bible.
Let me tell you one of the things that kind of pushes me over into the "I believe" column. It is the story of Lazarus in the 11th chapter of the book of John. Strange story it is, and yet if it is true, then I don't have problem with a lot of the other things in the book. The long and short of the tale is that a man named Lazarus died and was wrapped in burial clothes. He was put into a tomb in the side of a hill, and a rock was rolled in front of the opening. Jesus showed up 4 days after the man died and was placed in the tomb. He greets the family and then asks someone to roll the stone away from the opening of the cave. A sister of the recently deceased says that it has been 4 days since his passing and the body is probably smelling badly by now. Perhaps it would be best if the stone is left in place.
I know, I know – someone can always say, "well, the poor guy was just in a coma and weak from his illness. He really didn't come back from the dead, he was just recuperating from his illness laying there in that cave." I have to admit, I was not there. I'm just reading the book. But, it sure seems like people back then could tell the difference between dead people and sick people who were not quite gone yet. They were not exactly strangers to death in their country given the Roman army and its occupation.
Well anyway, the next thing you know you have Jesus standing in front of this open cave and roaring with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." Now, I don't know what happened inside that dark smelly cave. I've never, ever, ever, ever seen a dead body return to life. I grew up with my share of vampire and werewolf movies from the 1940's and there were a lot of people coming back to life in the movies. But, that was make believe, it was the movies.
When you open the Bible and read the 11th chapter of the book of John, you are reading a story that says that a well known man in the community named Lazarus, whose sisters were Mary and Martha, a man who was dead for 4 days came back to life because Jesus commanded him to do so. Sends shivers down my spine and makes the hair on my neck stand up. If I believe that Jesus can do "that," then I don't have much problem with a lot of the other things in the Bible. Is it any harder to create an ocean or a planet, than it is to order a dead man to live again? I can't do either, can you?
The scary part of the story is this: if Jesus can order one dead man to rise and live again, then he can probably order the rest of us to rise and live again too once we are gone. If so, maybe the rest of the Bible isn't so far fetched after all.
JN 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 11:38-44 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
Wonder who was more surprised? Lazarus or the people watching him come out of the tomb?
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