SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/22/2016 11:09 AM
My Worship Time Focus: His coming
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 11:17-19
Message of the verses: “17 So when Jesus came, He found that he
had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem,
about two miles off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to
console them concerning their brother.”
We begin
with another possible reason as to why Jesus waited for Lazarus to be dead four
days, and it has to do with what the Jews believed. They believed that the soul would hover over
the body of a dead person for three days and after three days when the body
began to decompose they would leave the body.
I don’t think that this is what happens but if that is what the Jews
believed this could have been possible that Jesus waited for four days to
resurrect the body of Lazarus. The fact
that the Jews did not do anything to preserve the body it began to decompose
right away. I just finished listening to
a sermon by John MacArthur on these verses, a rather recent sermon, and in that
sermon he talked about some research that he did to find out what happened to a
body after death. I won’t go into the
details of his findings, but when we see in verse 39 where Martha said “"Lord,
by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days’ we get a
good idea of how fast his body decomposed.
Israel is on the same longitude as Tucson Arizona so we know that it is
hot there especially in the spring, summer, and fall, and so bodies would
decompose more rapidly.
We see in
verse 18 a description of where Bethany was in relationship with Jerusalem,
about two miles east of it. This means that it was on the road from Jericho to
Jerusalem so the people who would come for the Passover and other Jewish feast
had to pass right by this town. Now
since it was close to Jerusalem this would also mean that if anyone would see
Jesus then they could report it to the Jews in Jerusalem very soon and we remember
what they tried to do to Him at the end of chapter ten. We also see in verse 19 that many of the Jews
who came to comfort Mary and Martha came from Jerusalem. Now I have mentioned before that this household
of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus was probably one that was rather rich, and so this
could be another reason why so many people came to bring comfort to them. This was a procedure that the Jews of that
day followed, and many of them that came were professional mourners, those who
would actually make loud noises leading others who had come, and they would do
this for seven days. That is the reason
we see them still there when Jesus arrived four days after Lazarus had died. Even after the end of the seven days there
would be some who would stay close for the next 30 days to talk about different
memories and things like that in order to bring comfort to those who had lost
the love one. This is far different than
what is done today as when someone dies the body is taken away to a funeral
home where they preserve it from decaying and put a nice suit on the dead body
or dress if it is a woman, have visiting hours and then a memorial service that
lasts no more than two hours, go to the cemetery and have the burial service,
and then perhaps have a meal together and that is the end of it. I remember that when my dad died that the
Pastor of the church I attended did the service and at the grave site he
mentioned that it was important that people not leave my mother alone over the
next weeks and months, and we as a family did not do that.
I good
church will take care of the older people in the congregation, not just cater
to the young, for the older people have probably served a long time in the
church and need help and comfort as they grow older.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Last week I went to visit a dear friend of
mine, something I have wanted to do for a long period of time, as I went there
a couple of times and he was not home. I
called and made sure he was there and went see him and tell him that I was
sorry that I have not seen him in a while.
His health is not really good, but his spirit is very good, and it was a
pleasure to sit down and catch up with him.
I plan to see him sooner than it was the last time I saw him, and this
is the kind of thing that believers should do.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Be a more compassionate person,
especially to those who are having health problems.
Memory verse for the week:
(Romans 6:8) “8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with him,”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Fig leaves” (Genesis 3:7).
Today’s Bible question:
“What kind of person did Paul call the fornicator?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/22/2016 11:51 AM
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