New Testament BIBLE STORY #21

New Testament  BIBLE  STORY

#21

Chapter Twenty-nine:

Lazarus raised from the dead - Jesus condemned

SITTING ON JESUS' RIGHT AND LEFT HAND

IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

     As they went on their way towards Jerusalem, the mother of

the sons of Zebedee (James and John) came before Jesus and

kneeling asked Him for something. "What do you want?" Jesus

responded to her, and she said, "Teacher, we want you to do

whatsoever we ask of you." 

     "Well, then what is it that you want me to do?" Jesus again

replied.

     The mother of James and John then finally came out with what

she and her sons wanted, "Grant Lord that these two sons of mine

may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in

the Kingdom."

     "Oh, you do not know what you are asking for," answered

Jesus. "Can you drink of the cup that I drink, and be baptized

with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

     And they said to Him, "Yes Lord, we are able!"

     Jesus then responded with, "Indeed, you will drink of the

cup that I drink from, and be baptized with the baptism that I am

baptized with; but to sit, one at my right hand, and one at my

left hand, is not mine to grant; but it is for those for whom it

has been prepared for by my Father."

     The disciples would indeed partake of the life of Jesus,

they would drink what He was living. Drink and eat the physical

life as a servant of God. And they would be baptized with the

Holy Spirit (as we'll see when we come to the first chapters of

the book of Acts) as Christ was and do many of the same works

that He did through the power of the Holy Spirit. They would

partake of Christ in a very real and personal way, but what

these two disciples wanted (and their mother also) was not Jesus'

to grant.

     And when the ten other disciples heard all this they were

very indignant towards James and John. 

     And Jesus called them all to Himself and said, "You know

that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over the people, and

their leaders and kings and great men, exercise dictatorial

authority over them. But it shall NOT be so among you! Whoever

would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever 

would be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of man 

came and set you the example. He came not to be served but to serve,

and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mat.20: 20-28; Mark

10:35-45).

     Here we see that there will be "positions" in the Kingdom

when Jesus returns to establish it upon the earth. We also see

that the Father in heaven has reserved for Himself certain

positions of authority that only He will decide who will receive

them. We know from other Scriptures of the Old Testament that

king David of ancient Israel will rise in the resurrection and be

king over the restored 12 tribes of Israel. We have seen that

Jesus did have authority to promise to the twelve disciples that

they would each rule over a tribe of Israel. But, who is going to

sit at Jesus' right hand and left hand, was not for Jesus to say

or to give away those positions. Only the Father would determine

who would be given those seats of authority in the Kingdom.

     When we think of all the great people of God down through

the millenniums of time, is it any wonder then that only the

Father could determine who shall receive those two positions of

sitting on the right and left hand of Jesus in the Kingdom on

earth.

     We also note here a VERY IMPORTANT teaching of Christ.

Whoever was, or whoever desired to be, the greatest among God's

people at any particular time in history, had to become, MUST

become, the servant of all, the slave to all the rest of the

people of God. They had to become like Christ Himself, who 

came not to be vain and pompous and mentally and emotionally 

smug over all people, but came to give Himself in service and loving

sacrifice to all people. Just think how many hours Jesus spent in

a week and in His entire ministry in giving and to serving

others. Think about the love and compassion He gave out towards

others. Think about all the time He spent in teaching others and

His disciples, to know the truths of God, and to understand the

mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

     So it must be, so must those who would be "great" among the

people of God do as Jesus did....serve and sacrifice for and

towards God's people. That is the mark of greatness according to

Christ. Greatness is NOT exercising dictatorial authority over

people, bossing them around, and telling them what to do and 

when to do it.

     Greatness is being kind, patient, loving, helping, serving,

and teaching God's word with all of those attributes, as a person

moves among the children of God.

BLIND BARTIMAEUS IS HEALED

     Jesus and the disciples had arrived at Jericho. As they were

leaving a great crowd was following them as usual. On the

roadside they came across two blind men, sitting and begging.

Now, Matthew's account says there were two blind men. The

accounts of Mark and Luke only mention one man, someone who 

it seems was well known for whatever reasons, as his name is given

as Bartimaeus - "blind Bartimaeus" in the popular speech of the day.

     Possibly Mark and Luke only record this healing as if one man 

was involved, because Bartimaeus was the spokesman for the

two men, and because he was the most famous of the two.

     Bartimaeus was known as the son of Timaeus, who then was

probably a man very well known in the community. When Jesus 

came close Bartimaeus called out, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy 

on me and on us." Many started to rebuke him and told him to be

silent. But he cried out even the more, "Son of David, Lord have

mercy on us."

     Jesus stopped walking, stood and said, "Call the blind man

over to me." And they did call him over saying, "Take heart blind

man, He is calling for you to come to Him." Throwing off his coat

Bartimaeus sprang to his feet like someone being chased by a

lion, and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want

me to do?"

     "Oh, Master, let our eyes be opened so we can have sight."

And Jesus, looking with kind compassion at him, touched their

eyes and said, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."

     Their sight was restored immediately, but they did not run

off to their separate homes, they instead followed Jesus,

glorifying God. And when all the people saw what had happened

they also praised and gave glory to God. (Mat.20: 29-34; Mark 10:

46-52; Luke 18: 35-43).

ZACCHAEUS A TAX COLLECTOR IS CONVERTED

     Jesus was still not far out of Jericho, just on the edge of

the town limits. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was 

a chief tax collector, and through craftiness he had become very

rich. He wanted to see Jesus but he could not as he was a short

man in stature and could not see over the heads and shoulders of

the crowd. He was not going to give up that easy though. He

decided he would run on ahead and climb up a sycamore tree 

to see Jesus. 

     When Jesus arrive at the sycamore tree that Zacchaeus had

climbed, He looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly;

for I must stay at your house today and for the night." 

     You can imagine how quickly Zacchaeus came down. He was

thrilled that Jesus would be staying in his house. He would get

to see Him up close for some number of hours. His heart beat like

a race horse ready to run a race. He was overjoyed at what Jesus had 

told him.

     But, some in the crowd, who hated people who collected taxes

for the Roman Government, murmured with some indignation at 

what Jesus was going to do. "Why," they said, "he is going to be a

guest of a man who is a sinner, this is terrible!"

     When they all arrived at the house of Zacchaeus, he said to

Jesus, "Behold Lord, the half of my goods I will give to the

poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I will restore

it to them even four times as much."

     Jesus smiled with a happy heart and said, "Today salvation

indeed has come to this house, since this man is also a son of

Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which

was lost" (Luke 19: 1-10).

     Yes, what often seems hopeless to mankind, is what God can

turn around and makes salvation from. Zacchaeus thought he would

only see Jesus from up a tree and nothing else would happen. Many

within the crowd thought Jesus was doing wrong by befriending a

despised tax collector. Everyone was wrong. God the Father and

Jesus His Son were about to convert and bring a man to salvation.

Nothing is impossible with God.

     Some times in being converted, it is right and proper to make 

restitution to some people we may have wronged, if it is within our 

power to do so. We must realize that it is not always within our 

power to restore, for some people may have moved away and we 

have no possible means whereby we can locate them. God does not 

expect that we can right every wrong we may have done to people 

over our life time, but in some situations it may be possible, and if so, 

then we should make an effort to give restitution. And the example 

here given for us, which Jesus did not disagree with, was that, 

restitution would be far above the amount fraudulently taken. 

The example here also is that if you are very rich, you will, 

when converted to follow Christ Jesus, give a great part of your 

wealth to the poor. We will note "poor" is the first priority, the 

"church" would be second, although there are indeed many "poor" 

within the community of the church, which would be grateful for 

a helping hand.

PARABLE OF THE POUNDS

     As they heard these things He proceeded to tell a parable,

because He was getting near to Jerusalem, and they supposed 

that the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately. So He taught 

them saying, "A nobleman went into a far country to receive kingly

power and then to return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them 

50 dollars, and said to them, 'Trade with this money till I come again.’ 

But his own citizens hated him and sent an embassy of men after him, 

saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.' 

     When he returned, having received kingly power and authority, 

he commanded the servants to whom he had given the money, to be 

called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading.

     And the first came to him and said, 'Lord, your 50 dollars

has gain 50 dollars more.' And he said, 'Well done, good and

faithful servant. Because you have been faithful in very little,

you shall have authority over ten cities.' And the second came,

saying, 'Lord, your 50 dollars has gained 25 more dollars.' And

the king said to him, 'You shall have authority over 5 cities.'

     Then another came and said, 'Lord, here is your 50 dollars,

which I looked after and kept safe in a steel box at home. For I

was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what

you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.' The king

replied to him, 'I will condemn you out of your own mouth you

wicked servant! You knew I was a severe man, taking up what I did

not lay down, and reaping where I did not sow. Why then did you

not put my money into the bank at least, and at my coming, I

should have collected it with some interest?' 

     And he said to those who stood nearby watching and hearing

all this, 'Take the 50 dollars from him, and give it to him who

gained the 50 dollars more.' And they said to him, 'Lord, he

already gained 50 dollars!' The king answered, 'I tell you, that

every one who has will be given more; but from him who has not,

even what he has will be taken away. And as for those enemies of

mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and

slay them before me.' "

     And when Jesus had said all this, He went on His way, heading 

for the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19: 11-28).

     This parable teaches us a number of things. It was a parable

Jesus gave to tell His disciples that the Kingdom of God was not

going to appear as soon as they perhaps thought. They looked for

it to come while Jesus was still on earth, and to come in the very 

near future of their life time. Jesus was here dispelling such an idea, 

yet still not giving any specifics as to when in time, the Kingdom 

would come. Hence of course many disciples would still have thought, 

even after Jesus had ascended back to heaven, that the Kingdom 

would come in the life time of many of the first century disciples.

     This is also a parable that shows all disciples get the same

gift to work with. The only gift that is equal among disciples of

Jesus is the gift of ETERNAL LIFE!  Upon repentance and

conversion everyone is given this same equal gift.  But from then

on God expects us to use it, to go on from there with that gift

and work in different ways with it, to increase yourself spiritually, 

mentally, emotionally, and also to use whatever else God has 

given us in ways of physical gifts and talents, to increase what 

He had first given us. If we do increase, we shall be rewarded with 

positions of authority in the Kingdom of God.

      How much we increase will determine how much authority we 

are given in the Kingdom.

     But, if we think we can stand still, only keep what is first

given to us at conversion, if we think we do not have to move 

at least a little more forward in spiritual growth, we are one day

going to have a rude awakening. If we think we can wrap up God's

gift of eternal life in a little box and simply keep it safe and

not use it after we are given it, then even that which we think

we have safely preserved, will be taken away from us. We shall

be on the outside looking in as they say. We shall find ourselves

as one of those who in earlier parables that Jesus gave, are

crying and gnashing their teeth, saying, "Lord, did we not

worship you, did we not go to church, did we not have you in 

our home, and sitting at our table at meal times?" And Jesus will

say, "Depart from me, for I never knew you....."

     Yes, as I've said before, some of the teachings of Jesus, cut right 

to the bone, and they are often not what most teachers of Christian 

theology want to tell you. They are often the parts of the Gospels 

that are neglected and/or completely ignored by far too many who 

claim to be reading the Bible. We need to be willing to read the Bible 

from cover to cover, and let it teach and correct us, inspire and 

admonish us, encourage and lift us up, but also let it warn us.

     And speaking of warning, there is in this parable also a clear 

warning signal Jesus was wanting to get across. Those who will not 

let Jesus "reign" over them, rule them, tell them how to live, allow 

Him to direct their lives in the godly way they should go,  shall be 

one day slain before His presence. This ultimate slaying of  the unruly 

wicked will come just before the arrival of the new heavens  and 

new earth (see the last verses of Revelation 20), when all the 

wicked will die in the lake of fire, which the New Testament calls 

"the second death." 

     We must not only accept Jesus as our personal SAVIOR, but

also as our LORD and MASTER. We must let Him reign and rule in

our lives, letting Him and His word guide, teach, and lead us

into the way of thinking, speaking, and doing, that is pleasing to Him 

and to the Father in heaven.

LAZARUS IS RAISED FROM THE DEAD

AND DEATH IS SLEEP

     This next section of Scripture is very important in two

respects. It teaches the "resurrection from the dead" and it

teaches "death is a sleep." 

     It came to pass as Jesus and His disciples were going on

their journey up to Jerusalem, that a certain man named Lazarus

became ill. He was the brother to two sisters named Mary and

Martha. Now, it is John in his Gospel account, that tells us that

this Mary was none other than the woman who anointed Jesus feet

with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair. We read all about

that situation in an earlier chapter.

     The two sisters sent to Jesus a message saying, "Lord, he

whom you love is very ill." They expected Jesus to immediately

come and heal their brother. 

     Jesus on hearing this news said, "This illness is not unto

death; it is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be

praised and glorified by means of it." Jesus of course knew what

was going to happen and what significance it would portend for

all who would witness the event and the outcome.

     Jesus, did love all three of those people, Mary, Martha, and

Lazarus. He heard the news about the illness of lazarus, but did

not immediately start off to go to heal him. Probably to the

bewilderment of His disciples He stayed two days longer where

they were at, after hearing the news concerning Lazarus. Then

perhaps they were not surprised He did not go immediately to

Lazarus, for they knew He was in danger if He stepped into

Judea, as Lazarus lived in Bethany which was inside the area

known as Judea. We gather this from some of the words they 

said which we shall come to shortly. Yet, as they knew Jesus 

was heading for Jerusalem in Judea anyway, it seems they were

somewhat very confused about the whole situation of Jesus wanting

to go up to Jerusalem. You must remember that even when Jesus

told them about His being handed over to the religious authorities 

and finally being put to death, but rising from the dead, at Jerusalem, 

they did not understand it at all. So indeed they were probably very 

confused about everything that was going on in Jesus' life at that 

present time.

     Well,  two days after getting the news about Lazarus, He said 

to His disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."

     "Why, Master, the Jews there were recently seeking to stone

you, and are you really wanting to go there again?" said His

disciples.

     "Are there not twelve hours in a day?" replied Jesus, "If any 

man walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees

the light of this world. But if any person walks in the night, 

he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 

     Jesus was telling them that while He was still alive and

walking, there was work for Him to do, so others could come 

to see the light of God's truth and salvation. It was also a mild

rebuke that they could not yet see the light of day, they were

still in the blindness of the night.

     Then He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has FALLEN a

SLEEP. But I go to awake him out of sleep."

     "Well Lord, " the disciples replied, "if he has fallen asleep, 

he will rest and recover."

     The truth is Jesus was speaking about his death, but they

thought He was meaning Lazarus had taken a rest in sleep, as we

do at night time, or at other times when we are tired and sometimes 

taking a "cat nap."

     Then Jesus said plainly to them, "What I am saying to you is

that Lazarus is DEAD! And for your sakes I'm glad I was not

there, so that you may believe even the more. Let us go to him."

     At least Thomas, called the Twin, was beginning to see what

it was all going to end with, it was beginning to sink into the

mind of Thomas at least, that Jesus would now probably die in

some fashion in Judea. He said to the other disciples, "Come on

then, let us go also into Judea with Him, and let us die there

with Him also."

     Jesus arrived at Bethany to find that Lazarus had been dead

in the tomb or grave for FOUR DAYS.  Bethany was near Jerusalem,

only about two miles away. Many Jews from Jerusalem and the area

had come to console Mary and Martha concerning the death of their

brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming she ran to meet

Him, while Mary sat in their house.

     On meeting Jesus Martha said to Him, "Lord, if you had been

here my brother would not have died. Yet, even now I know that

whatsoever you ask from the Father, God will give it to you."

     Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again!"

     "Oh, yes Lord," replied Martha, "I know my brother will rise

again in the resurrection at the last day."

     "You know, do you not Martha," answered Jesus, "that I am

the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he

die, yet shall he live, and he who believes and lives in me,

shall not die forever. Do you believe this?" She said to Him,

"Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the

one promised to come into the world."

     After this conversation Martha went quietly to her sister

Mary, telling her that Jesus was asking to see her. And when Mary

heard this she rose up quickly and went to Him. The Jews in the

house followed Mary thinking she was going to weep some more at

Lazarus' grave site.

     Mary came to where Jesus was and fell at His feet, saying to

Him, "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died."

     Jesus saw Mary and the Jews with her weeping in great

anguish, and He was deeply moved in spirit, and said to them,

"Where have you laid him?" And they answered, "Lord, come 

with us and see." 

     As Jesus was going with them to the grave where Lazarus was

laid to rest, we have the shortest verse in the Bible, but one

that shows us that there are times when it is right and proper

for MEN as well as women to literally cry, for John records for

us these words, "Jesus WEPT."

     And some the Jews there said among themselves, "Ah, do you

see how he loved this man."

     But others said, "Why, if he loved him so, this man who

could open the eyes of the blind, surely could he not have

stopped Lazarus from dying?

     Then Jesus was deeply moved once more on hearing all this

talk among the people. He came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a

great huge stone lay upon it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone."

Martha, being surprised at what Jesus was now telling them

to do, said, "Lord, there will be a terrible smell, for Lazarus

has been dead four days now." Jesus responded with, "Did I not

tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So

they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes towards

heaven and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I

know that you hear me always, but I have said this on account of

the people standing by, that they may believe that you did indeed

send me." 

     And after saying this, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus,

COME ON OUT!"

     There was a shock that went through the minds of all

standing there, they froze in their stand, many mouths dropped

open, eyes were glued on the entrance to the cave.

     Could this man really raise someone from the dead after they had

been dead four days, was the question that was now on everyone's

mind. There was hushed silence as all were steadfastly looking to

see if Lazarus would walk out of the cave.......more seconds

went by.....THEN, to the amazement of every person there, Lazarus

CAME OUT!  He was once more alive. People were again frozen in

their minds and speech for a few seconds at what they were seeing, 

then gasps of surprise filled the air, some fell to the ground on their 

knees, praising God, others looked at one another in astonishment, 

as they realized the power this man called Jesus had, even power 

over death.

     Lazarus was bound with bandages over the hands and feet, in

the manner that the Jews buried their dead. It was not at all

like a large piece of cloth put over a body, but wound around

bandages that were used over parts of the body like the hands and

the legs and feet, even the face and head. Lazarus could not

unwrap himself, so Jesus told them to unwrap the bandages and let

him go free.

     What joy and praising God there was that day, when Jesus

raised Lazarus from the grave after his body had started to

decompose after being dead four days.

     Here, as I've said, is one of the great Bible passages, that

tells us plainly that death is a SLEEP. We do NOT continue to

live after death in some heaven, hell, or purgatory, with an

immortal soul we are born with. Death is a sleep, a time to rest

in sleep, as we do at night time, waiting until the resurrection

day, to be raised back to life once again.  Lazarus was raised

back to life as a physical person, to live and eat and breath

again, as he did before. He was not in heaven. There is no word 

about him telling everyone what heaven was like. His sisters 

did not expect to see him in heaven when they went there upon 

their death. No, they would not see him again until the resurrection 

as they knew. Lazarus later died once more, as we all do eventually, 

and is again sleeping till the resurrection day.

      The resurrection that Martha knew about, and told Jesus she 

knew her brother would rise in a resurrection at the last day, is what

the Bible calls the "first resurrection" (Rev.20), and this is the 

resurrection that all saints and children of God will rise up in. It is 

the resurrection day, at the coming of Christ in glory, as I have 

mentioned and given Scriptures for, in previous chapters of this 

New Testament Bible Story.

JESUS IS CONDEMNED BY THE JEWISH COUNCIL 

     Many Jews had come from various parts of the region to Mary

and Martha's home and had witnessed this great miracle Jesus had

done in resurrecting Lazarus from the dead after four days of

laying in the tomb. And many of those Jews believed in Jesus as

the Messiah to come, that was foretold in the pages of the Old

Testament prophets.  But other Jews still not ready to accept

Jesus, went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 

     So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together the

council or Sanhedrin (the body of men who ruled on certain

aspects of the Jewish religious life), and said, "What are we to

do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him continue

doing this, soon everyone will believe in him, and the Romans

will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation." 

     They thought that if the people all believed in Jesus, they

would want Him to be their king and leader in a revolution

against the Roman yoke of servitude, and so bring on the Jewish

nation the full armies of Rome, in a battle that could only mean

utter destruction for the Jews. This was of course wrong thinking, 

as Jesus would never have been a part of such a revolution and 

would never have allowed the Jews to try to use Him in such a 

revolution against Rome.

     Then a man named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year,

said to them, "You speak about things you know nothing at all

about. You do not understand that it is often best and expedient

that ONE MAN should die for the people, and not that the whole

nations should perish." Now, he did not say this of his own mind,

but being high priest that year he actually was prophesying that

Jesus should die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but

to gather into one family the children of God who are scattered

abroad in all nations.

     So from that day forward they took counsel and sat around

figuring out how to put Jesus to death.

     Jesus knowing and hearing what the Jewish Sanhedrin was

trying to plan, no longer went about among the people in an open

manner, but went from there to the country near the wilderness,

to a town called Ephraim; and there He stayed with His disciples.

     Now the Passover of the Jews, the feast that God gave to the

people of Israel under Moses, was soon to be observed, and many

went up from the country-side to Jerusalem before the Passover

began in that city, to work through the purification rites, and so 

ceremonially purify themselves as directed under the laws

of Moses.

     They were looking for Jesus as they stood around in the

Temple courtyards, knowing it was Jesus' custom to attend the

Passover in the city of Jerusalem. Many were saying among

themselves, "Well, what do you think? Will he or will he not 

come this year to the feast?"

     The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if

any one knew where He was, he should let them know, so they 

might arrest Him" (John 11: 45-57).

     The air was tense with excitement and various emotions, in

anticipation that Jesus would come to observe the Passover in

Jerusalem as usual. Most at this time were for Him, that is they

were on His side, as we say. They knew He was a mighty miracle

worker, more and more were believing He was the promised Messiah.

Yet, they did not understand why He had come to earth this first

time. They did not understand the prophecies in the Old Testament

concerning His first appearing on earth, even Jesus' disciples

did not understand them, and most thought that being the Messiah

He would deliver them from the Roman Empire, make the Jewish

nation great and mighty, and so eventually the leading nation on

the earth. 

     The people were hoping that this is what Jesus would now

begin to do.....lead the Jewish nation out from under the Roman

yoke, and give them world dominance. The people were ready for

such a leader, to lead and deliver them from their enemies. The

emotional excitement in their hearts and minds was so high and so

thick for everyone to see, that as we say, you could "cut the air" 

with a knife, and hand portions of excitement around to all

entering the Temple and even setting foot into the city of

Jerusalem.

     Would Jesus come was the big question on all minds. If He

would they would surely be ready to greet Him in a mighty and

glorious way. They would not have long to wait for their answer

to their question.

          .........................................

Written December 2002

All studies by Keith Hunt may be copied, published, emailed, and

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