Dead Man Walking

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"--John 11:25, 26.

Do these words of Jesus make any sense to you? I believe in Jesus, but yet I know that I'm going to die someday just like everyone else, including you. We are all dead men (and women) walking. But how is it that you and I, who live and believe in Jesus, shall never die? Was Jesus talking about the immortal soul of a person which exits the body when the last breath of terrestrial air is inhaled? If that were true, then why would Jesus raise Lazarus? Wouldn't it have been better to leave Lazarus' body alone while his immortal soul enjoyed the wonder and amazement of the mansions in the sky? Did Lazarus' soul leave heaven through the Pearly Gates kicking and screaming, whatever that may have looked like? These are questions that I have had ever since childhood, and they have never been answered sufficiently.

I'm thinking, dear reader, that something more is going on here than meets our conventional thinking. Given the entirety of the ministry of Jesus and of the Scriptures themselves, I see something else happening. We may have to rethink what is meant by the words death and resurrection. And I'm just the guy to do that!!

When I consider the Bible as a whole and complete narrative, I don't see the great enemy of humanity as biological and organic demise, commonly known as death. I might be mistaken, but it seems to me that the greater threat was alienation and separation from the person and glory of God. This is death due to sin. The remedy for this, Biblically speaking, was not biological resuscitation. It was resurrection-- a bringing back and gathering of those once alienated from the person and glory of God.

In Christ, we are counted as dead (separated) in regards to sin, and alive (brought back) to God. This pattern of death and resurrection is clearly demonstrated in Baptism. We are no longer foreigners and aliens in a strange land. Our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. Our sin has been put off and the righteousness of Christ has been put on. This is resurrection-- a bringing back to life of what was once dead.

The resurrection of Jesus on the first Easter morning was not merely the resuscitation of some poor man who was treated horribly by his executioners, although it was that. It marked the beginning of the completion of God's ingathering of humanity coming full circle as Israel is created anew. If we understand Jesus as Israel reduced to one person, then Jesus' resurrection is representative of the reconstitution of God's chosen people. It marked the fulfillment of Ezekiel 37-- a nation coming back to life with the breath of the Spirit and doing what it was created to do. This is something that transcends biological life, but includes it.

I welcome comments on this. I could be completely wrong.