vs 11
Again I say that sleep is a good description of what happens to Christians when they die. But of course, Jesus is using it in the more immediate sense here - in that Lazarus is dead, but he's coming back real soon.
vs 12
Well, they might not have had MRI machines, but they knew that if sick people sleep, they can get better. At least they cared.
vs 13
So John clears up what Jesus meant, so we understand both what Jesus said and the disciples' response.
vs 14-15
Jesus tells them he's dead. He also says that he's glad he wasn't there for their sake, but I don't think that includes him. I think Jesus would have liked to spare Lazarus the pain of death. I think he would have liked to have saved Mary and Martha from the pain of loss. I think he felt those things himself, even though he knew he could bring him back.
vs 16
John obviously includes this statement of Thomas to show that the disciples would try and apply everything that Jesus said spiritually, when sometimes he just meant things literally. Like "Lazarus is dead" means "Lazarus is dead".
vs 17
It obviously takes a while to walk to these places. But again, Jesus may have taken his time, just so Lazarus was well and truly dead.
vs 18-19
So already a lot of people had come and visited the sisters because their brother was dead. This means a lot of witnesses. Lazarus was really quite dead. It also shows the kind of people we're talking about - community minded, travelling out to grieve with the sisters. Lazarus was probably a fairly important person too.
vs 20
Not much to say about this verse. I looked it up in the commentary I still haven't returned to the library (ack!) just to make sure there was no cultural importance. It's just a little detail that tells us something more about Martha (and I guess Mary by comparison).
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3 comments:
Yes, by the way the sisters act Martha clearly was the older. And Mary was sulky. :p
I generally thought Thomas's comment was a hyperbolic statement of grief over their good friend, quite Jewishly melodramatic. I don't quite get what you meant by them trying to apply Jesus' words spiritually...
Remember, you can't just read your own culture into the Bible. Also, they could be twins! That is now my opinion, just so I have a different one to you.
I don't quite get where you find Thomas' statement reflecting any sort of grief. Put this statement in its context. Jesus has said that this story will not end in death. They certainly are confused, because Jesus said he was sleeping, now he says he's dead, but before he said it wouldn't end in death. And often, when Jesus spoke in this way, the disciples knew that he was talking about something spiritual. Not yet had they ate his flesh or drank his blood.
So when they heard that Lazarus is dead, and Jesus is glad (one verse before Thomas' statement), Thomas' reaction is "Great! If Jesus is glad Lazarus is dead, then let's all go and die with him!"
Even Carson says that "On this occasion Thomas reflects not doubt but raw devotion and courage, even though it was courage shot through with misunderstanding and incomprehension". Nothing about grief or melodrama.
No, that's cool - and thanks for explaining what you meant. I just hadn't thought much about it (durp) because... well, because.
And frankly the comment about the sisters was mostly tongue-in-cheek and specifically said to get a rise out of you. *Sigh.* You bite so easy... (Beware! That was another bait!... or was it?!?... The meta-baiting is getting confusing.)
On a more serious note, yes, I do try to be careful about interpreting too much through the lens of my own culture, but I think there are a great many things that all humanity have in common. The trick - one I have far from mastered, I know - is understanding how those commonalities manifest in the different cultures. Still, I don't think you need to know everything about a culture, or a particular person, to be able to empathise with them or recognise something in common.
I wouldn't bet on it, particularly since there's not a lot of information to work off, but in the spirit of pure, trivial speculation, I'd still say Martha was the older and Mary the younger sister. Not sure where Lazarus fitted in! Probably the middle child...
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