Enquiring Minds
One Year Bible (April 21) Joshua 22: 21-23:16; Luke 20: 27-47
Difficult Concepts (Part I) “Enquiring Minds”
Enquiring minds want to know! At the heart of my writing is a news reporter. I just want “the scoop”, don’t you?
We discussed the severe earthquakes and the passage found in Mt. 27: 51-54. This is an amazing passage.
Check out the order of events…
“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” (51-53)
Notice that it tells us that the dead people came out into the Holy City after the resurrection. It also goes on to tell us that the centurion guarding Jesus said, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
What is also very interesting to me is that the chief priest and Pharisees seemed to get the situation a little bit better than the disciples. They said, “We remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise again. So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body, and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead.”
These ol’ boys believed something was going to happen! Perhaps, that is really why the disciples were hidden away. They wanted to blame them, but God had that all under control. They were “behind locked doors”.
Today’s reading in our One Year Bible is found in Luke 20: 27-47. It gives us a greater glimpse into the afterlife because the Sadducees believed that there was no resurrection from the dead. (That is why they were “Sad You See”!)
They posed questions to set up Jesus to kill him, and today’s biggie was, “What if a woman has had many husbands and they all have died? Who’s wife will she be in heaven?”
Jesus responds with this, “Marriage is for people here on earth. But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. And they will never die again. In this respect, they will be LIKE angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection.” -Luke 20: 34-36
Notice that Jesus does not say that we will BE angels when we die. Many people will tell you that their loved one has passed away and is an angel watching over them. Jesus points out that we will be “like angels”.
Enquiring minds want to know…I sure would love to spend a bit of time with the dead saints who walked through Jerusalem on that first Easter morning after Jesus’ resurrection. I would ask them a little bit more about all of that.
Did you guys come back to life after the first earthquake when Jesus died, and if so where have you been?
Did you wait and come out after the earthquake when the stone was rolled away? Speaking of that, where have you been, period?
Can you tell me about “Sheol”, “The Bossom of Abraham”, and “Paradise”? How is all of that connected, and how does it work?
Can you see us folks here on earth?
Those would just be my opening line of questions. I would save the hard ones for after lunch…
Notice that the Sadducees were not really posing questions to learn, however. They just wanted to trap him. Yet, we learn so much as we read Jesus’ answers to these questions.
What questions do you have from all of the passages that we have been reading? I would love to hear them.
Tomorrow we will talk about Joshua as he faces death. What wisdom can we learn from ”The Greats of the Faith” (Heb. 11) that have gone before us?
Difficult Concepts deepen our faith.
Enquiring Minds don’t just want to know; we desire to follow…
“Deep in Your Hearts, You Know That Every Promise of the Lord Your God Has Come True.” -- Joshua 23:14
