Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Summarize what you learned from each of the two Lazarus’s.532-2 - 11 - 6

Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus as were his sisters Martha and Mary. Although Jesus knew that he would be restoring Lazarus to life, John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”
With thanks to CM, Lazarus was dead and defeated as he laid in his tomb constricted by the binding of his grave clothes. This would be an equivalence to those in unbelief. After Lazarus was called forth from his tomb by Jesus he was dangerous to the temple elites. When we became believers, we became soldiers in God’s Army and as the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” goes we are marching as to war. So we are dangerous to the status quo, which is becoming more immoral with each passing day. One day we will dine with Jesus in the marriage feast just as Lazarus dined with Jesus.

We are told very little about the other Lazarus other than that he was possibly disabled and sat at the gate of the rich man's home. Dogs licked Lazarus wounds as he sought just the crumbs from the rich man's table. The rich man and his wife and concubines must have passed Lazarus often without giving alms or even a scrap of food to him.

Riches through righteous activity is not condemned, rather the love of money is as it often leads to gains though unrighteousness, greed and self-indulgence.
Lazarus died and was in paradise in the bosom of Abraham. Later the rich man died and suffering the torments of Hades, he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to him with a drop of water to cool his tongue. Jesus tells us that there's a chasm between the two men that could never be crossed. Also, the rich man wanted Lazarus to be sent to his brothers to warn them about the anguish of Hades. He was told that his brothers have Moses and the prophets and still do not believe so they would not believe Lazarus.
Perhaps there is something analogy between the treatment of Lazarus and that of Jesus. While Jesus wasn't a beggar at the gate he stands at the door and knocks only to be rejected. Luke 9:58, "And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."

Jesus and his disciples went forth without script and were fed and often sheltered by believers. Those believers are now likely in paradise and not sharing the agony of the rich man.

Believers are born twice and die once. Unbelievers are born once in die twice. As believers, we are born into this life and then are born-again into our relationship with Jesus. We die once and to quote Paul, "To be absent from the body is to be present with Jesus." Unbelievers are born once into this world and died the first time. After the millennium they will be judged at the White Throne Judgment, the second death. 

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