Did Jesus lie?

So what does God want to teach me...	Today?

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Posted by: casey_at_bat Original: 1/27/2008 4:32 PM Comments: 24 eProps: 38 Read Comments Post a Comment Back to Your Xanga Site

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2 eProps from: Boowasborn imnrdh RaZeHeLL steph843 Crossing_Cultures ialsolovechocolate Paradox_Grl Spawndragon thereluctantsinger jehovahjiranerd jtqueenbee30 mybaddy Eccentrique wondering04 sayJames NotSoInstantStar MorganEmmalee firetyger faerieshadow

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Sunday, January 27, 2008

This week at church our youth pastor spoke on the story of the raising of Lazarus. Now this is one of those stories that has been discussed so often that it can become almost routine hearing it. But as he talked about it there was something new that struck me. It was the content of these two verses: John 11:3,4 "Then his sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. When Jesus heard, He said, This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God might be glorified by it." Now here is what hit me, to carry this message there needed to be a messenger. A person who carried the news to Jesus. When this person told Jesus the news Jesus apparently immediate response was that this sickness would not end in death.

Now, the next part is supposition on my part but see if it makes sense. The messenger would most likely have carried this good news back to Mary and Martha, Lazarus' sisters. It would have at first given great comfort to them. Their brother would not die! Jesus had said so! But very soon after he did die. This is the part that really got me thinking. How could Mary and Martha have survived the 4 days between the time Lazarus died and Jesus raised him? My immediate thought would have been that Jesus had lied, He said this would not end in death but Lazarus had died, how could I trust Him again? But both Mary and Martha seemed to remain firm in their faith. John 11:21,22 "Then Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, whatever You will ask of God, God will give You."

To me this showed great faith which could only come from a very close relationship with Jesus. Even when it looked like things weren't going the way He said these two sisters continued to trust and believe that Jesus was who He said He was. This is the kind of faith I would like to have. Too often things don't go the way I would like or think they will go and it is easy to have my faith waver. How about yours?

Posted 1/27/2008 4:32 PM - 24 comments

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24 Comments

Four days seems a longer time now when we have so much going on and so much information coming at us every second. And most of that information is designed to make us doubt ourselves. I like the allegory that their faith implies about everyday life. Sure, they had a death and that is the supreme test, but everyday we have such ups and downs. To be able to withstand the bad times with their example of worse times is very helpful.

I have doubts like anyone, but I think I am learning to surf the waves more than I used to be able to.

You know, in this day and age, not only might the sisters have doubted but they may have sued the doctors who pronounced death. I am joking!

Posted 1/27/2008 5:18 PM by Boowasborn

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Good observations Tim. I'm learning much from an online religious studies class I am require to take to graduate--dealing with many different things regarding Christ--one of them is understanding how the author wrote and the message they wanted to convey. Maybe this is one of those areas with John's writing.

Good to see you here on Xanga. I miss reading your insights and analogies. Hope all is well with the family.

Posted 1/27/2008 5:20 PM by imnrdh - reply

First of all, "Did Jesus lie?" The Word of God declares in Numbers 23:19: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" I totally understand your post you have here, Tim. The Lord gave me that verse when I was questioning/saying in my heart that He lied ... He had promised to heal me of my congenital right hip dislocation and I BELIEVED ... He had started it ... but it had stopped ... I had to have a hip replacement on my left hip due to an injury I received at work in 2002. I did not want to have it because I knew what He had promised me. I am giving you a link here to a word I received from the Lord in October, 2006 - Click here - December, 2005 is when the Holy Spirit was speaking that verse to me...I wrote it down and would read it often ... then I thought ... HE IS GOING TO PUT THE HIP IN ITS SOCKET AND DO EVERYTHING HE HAS PROMISED ME!! And you know what, Tim - HE IS DOING IT. There has been so many changes taken place on that side of my body. IT IS TOTALLY AMAZING. Why has it taken so long, you might ask.... I cannot give you an answer - I'm not God. But one thing I have learned is that ... HE IS FAITHFUL. If He said it - you can guarantee He will do it - if we ONLY BELIEVE!! Looking UNTO Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Click here for another good word ... "Yet, after years of seeming delay, I caused My promise to come to pass in an instant, in the blink of an eye. In less than a day, I moved him out of the prison and established him as a ruler over all of Egypt." Some day - some morning - who knows when - I will discover that that side is completely made whole like my other side. I will be shouting "Glory - glory - glory!" for I have trusted and believed and HE IS DOING - PRESENT TENSE - not future or past - but PRESENT - ACTIVE - NOW. Bless you, Tim. GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS! ~Carolyn

Posted 1/27/2008 6:35 PM by RaZeHeLL

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I've gotten angry at God from things that have happened in my life and that is in part what has pushed me away from Him. I admire those who can have faith of that strength, though I'm not sure I will ever have that myself.

Posted 1/27/2008 8:46 PM by steph843

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He always shows me what his word *really* means.

*L*

Posted 1/28/2008 2:52 AM by Crossing_Cultures

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I brought up this topic during a ladies Bible study once. It wasn't received well, as I was taking the subject away from the outline (agian) and the teacher didn't have an answer for me (again). I still don't have a clear answer about it, but my faith is still strong, in spite of the fact that I no longer attend a ladies Bible study... Maybe if you taught one, I'd try it!

Posted 1/28/2008 7:11 AM by ialsolovechocolate

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This is something I often struggle with....the "whys"......it's an ongoing lesson for me....keeping faith when I don't always understand the "why's".

Posted 1/28/2008 12:50 PM by Paradox_Grl

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Hello, this is derrick. Hope you remember me from a little while back. Anyway, I'm no scholar, but these 4 things are what came to mind when I read your question.

01. What Jesus said was a statement of faith. Statements of faith do not always reflect what is going on in the earthly realm, but what is (or will be) going on in the spiritual realm. Another example would be when Jesus raised a girl from the dead. After she was already dead, Jesus made the following statement of faith: "She is not dead but asleep." (Matthew 9, Mark 5, & Luke 8). He was laughed at after He said this, so He sent everyone outside, and the girl was raised.

02. No matter who the healer is, the receiver must have faith. People in Jesus' hometown did not have faith, and as a result ... Mark 6: 5-6 says "He [Jesus] could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith." I am also reminded of the man from Mark 8: 22-26, whom Jesus had to heal twice, because the first time he could only see people who looked "like trees walking around." I believe this is because the man had little faith. You'll note Jesus had to lead this man outside the village, (my theory is) to get him away from other people who did not believe or have faith. (Remember Jesus making people from the dead girl's house leave before He raised her from the dead ...? Same issue.)

03. You say the sisters had great faith, and I agree, but the way I read it, their faith was not to the highest caliber. I take this opinion from John 11: 23-24: "Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha answered, 'I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.' Again, in verse 39-40: "'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?'" Why would Jesus say that, if she was already believing?

04. And lastly, but not least by any means ... John 11: 4 (KJV) "When Jesus heard that, he said, 'This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.'" The NIV says "will not end in death".
The sickness did not end in death ... it ended with Lazarus walking out of a tomb. "Death" was only the middle part, it was not the final "unto" or the ending.

Hope this helped (or made any sense). I quoted from the NIV for all but the one noted KJV.

Posted 1/28/2008 5:10 PM by Spawndragon - reply

I just realized that in all my rambling, I forgot to mention the main point of section 2. My point was: Maybe (and I say "maybe" because the Bible does not say one way or the other), due to the lack of faith of Lazarus' family, Jesus' healing was not able to take place the way it was orriginaly intended. But even though the healing didn't turn out the way He intended, the end result still did, that being Lazarus was not dead.

Sorry, I must have gotten carried away earlier, and forgot.

Posted 1/28/2008 6:17 PM by Spawndragon - reply

No, Jesus did not lie. The fact is that he said that the illness would not end in death, and it did not end in death. Lazarus was restored and given back to his sisters.

Posted 1/30/2008 3:31 PM by thereluctantsinger - reply

Thanks Tim, we can still chat on msn occasionally.

God bless.

Posted 1/31/2008 5:00 AM by jehovahjiranerd - reply

thank you for your caring and concern...you are a great friend!

Posted 1/31/2008 9:53 AM by jtqueenbee30

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If one wonders why humanity heads in so many directions when it comes to the whys of believing in Jesus and God, one suggestion I have is to read one of your stimulating posts Tim.

Of course, they may want to grab your RSS feed due to the long gaps .. between ... posts ... :)

To answer your question directly, 2 nights ago I heard on that news that 2 children, aged 1 and 3, were found frozen to death.

I have to admit my first thoughts were "how is that fair?" and "not much wonder my faith wavers!".

So I guess I answered your question, eh?! :)

RYC; I'm not sure whose footsteps to follow in, given those two choices. Oh, I know, I'll go with the one covered in Super-Bowl rings.

I'm pretty sure that Billy B. will retire when he sees I'm on the other sideline!

Posted 1/31/2008 11:27 PM by mybaddy

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There are a number of stories in the Bible where the protagonists had to have great faith in the face of God's promises taking too long, not happening as expected, etc. I'm reminded of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a baby at the age of 100 and 90, respectively.

Several of your commenters above have very interesting things to say, so I won't try to rehash what they've already said. But no, Jesus doesn't lie. I just wish He'd explain things a little better sometimes, not be so damned obscure. Why does he need to be obscure and mysterious with us?

I too hope that you, Tim, can have that kind of faith. Mine wavered a long time ago, and it's hard to get it back.

P.S.: It's nice to see a post from you again.

Posted 2/2/2008 4:00 AM by Eccentrique

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Good point here, you are right we have to trust God even in the face of circumstances.

Heather

Posted 2/2/2008 1:54 PM by wondering04

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He can't lie.

Posted 2/2/2008 8:05 PM by sayJames

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hi,
I'm sorry.. do I know you Tim?

I appreciate your concern, and can tell you that everything went smoothly. Thanks.
-NotSoInstantStar

Posted 2/3/2008 3:44 PM by NotSoInstantStar - reply

oh.. well hey cool. It's always nice to meet someone new!

Thanks again for commenting. It's good to know that someone out there actually read what I had to say, even if it was over a month ago. =)

Posted 2/3/2008 4:32 PM by NotSoInstantStar - reply

Thank you, that means a lot.

Posted 2/6/2008 7:40 AM by MorganEmmalee - reply

ryc; I decided that you were right when addressing me as Coughlin, and NOT that bum Belicheck! :)

Posted 2/7/2008 9:36 PM by mybaddy

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I always enjoy your posts...I keep learning something new

RYC: Yeah...I'm hoping to go shopping tomorrow to pick some up and find out for sure. I guess I just have to give it to God right now. *sigh*

Posted 2/9/2008 10:12 PM by firetyger

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maybe a little paranoid, but more likely it just had to do with the movie that I'd just watched and the way the lights were.. it was pretty creepy looking. You just had to be there, I guess.. haha
And I loved "goodnight moon" too... I used to have it memorized, but I've lost parts of it as I've grown up and moved on to different literary pursuits.. =)

Posted 2/10/2008 10:55 PM by NotSoInstantStar - reply