Parables, Lazarus Raised

One of the most novel concepts I have read about and heard about in this class was the concept of Christ bridging the gulf between Spiritual Paradise and Spiritual Prison. I have known for a long time that missionary work goes on in the spirit world, but I thought that was pretty much always the case. As I learned about the gulf being bridged, I had this intense feeling of gratitude. It was a cool experience. Not only did Christ die for the remission of our sins, but for the missionary work in the spirit world. People sharing the gospel is a simple joy for me, so for me to thing about the gospel being shared in the spirit world, it means that I have great increase in this joy.

One detail about the story of the raising of Lazarus that I didn't really realize was that Christ did not immediately leave for Bethany. He LET Lazarus die. He definitely could have healed Lazarus. I mean, he is omnipotent! I think the purpose of letting Lazarus die was to perform an even bigger miracle. Raising someone from the dead in undeniably a miracle. Healing a sickness could possibly have some confounding factors. It seems silly that some people could doubt Christ being the Messiah when he heals so many people, but raising Lazarus would be much more profound.

One thing that I have been very interested in while studying the New Testament is how there are small details in the stories that are part of the stories because of cultures. Hellenistic cultural influence and Jewish traditions are things that I am not familiar with, so I don't think I would ever realize why certain details are included. For example, Lazarus' body was laying in the tomb for four days. Upon initial reading, I wouldn't really think this was for a any reason, just a random number. I thought maybe that was just how long Christ took to get there. However, it is cool that Christ waited until Lazarus was dead four days because Jews believed that the spirit of the dad hung around for three days. After four days, Lazarus was really really dead. I always remember these random little facts, often more often than major events in a story.