Didn't Jesus know the difference between dead and sleep?Did someone put that in to clarify what was really happening. The one exception was Lazarus. That one is usually considered to be a tall tale.
2007-09-19 09:53:28 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
He is telling us something about the phenomena we know as "death."
2007-09-19 09:58:05 · answer #1 · answered by Acorn 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Confusing a deep coma with death happens all the time.
In fact, it happened so much in the past, the practice of a "wake" developed. That is where the body in the coffin is watched by people for a day or so in hopes the person would wake up.
Another response was sales of specially designed coffins with air pipes and a signal flag. If a person came to after being buried, they could pull the rope, triggering the flag and while people were digging him up, he could breathe through the air pipe. If after a month the signal flag was not triggered, they just broke off the flag pole and air pipe and finished filling in the hole.
Most of this stopped when we began embalming people. Much easier to make sure they are dead by pumping them full of formaldehyde than the sit around watching the body for a day or two.
Today, a person is not considered dead until they are "warm and dead" in cases of hypothermia or they have a negative EEG with no drugs present that could cause a coma, such as pentothal. But even today, mistakes still happen.
Just recently a man was pronounced dead, only to "rise from the dead" when they started his autopsy.
The miracles of "raising someone from the dead" or even Jesus's rising from the dead can easily be explained as deep comas. (But it is more fun to believe in miracles than such mundane explanations as a coma.)
2007-09-19 17:14:13 · answer #2 · answered by forgivebutdonotforget911 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unlike you, Jesus knew the difference between dead and sleep. Spiritual death and physical death are nothing alike. You can be spiritually dead while you physically walk on this earth. On the other hand, you can be spiritually sleep while your flesh is dead. Because spirit commands the flesh, Jesus was able to raise Lazarus who was physically dead but only sleeping in the spirit realm. Spiritually, death means separation. Anytime you are separated from God (who is life), you have committed spiritual suicide.
2007-09-19 17:04:08 · answer #3 · answered by edcw0214 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
come on..admit it...you didnt really READ the story of Lazarus did ya?
His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them PLAINLY, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
sleep was a metaphor for death....
2007-09-19 17:04:19 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
So, your question begins by doubting the veracity of the Biblical accounts! All I can say is that you will never believe with that attitude. It reminds me of Hillary saying that she has to suspend disbelief in order to listen to the General she voted for 6 months before.
Jesus used metaphor and simile and many other figures of speech. A key to understanding is to know the genre of the passage. Is it history, poetry, gospel, epistle (letters), or apocalyptic? Within the gospels, you must discern direct speech, parables, and history.
If you go strictly literal in interpretation, you will wind up with nonsense and bad logic, like confusing "sleep" and "death."
2007-09-19 17:03:10 · answer #5 · answered by Tim M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the scriptures, death is likened to a "deep sleep" because Jehovah God has the power to awaken anyone from death.
There are many examples of that : Jesus Christ, Lazarus, a widow's son, a young child.....many, many examples of the resurrection too numerous to mention.
So, therefore when humans look at death all they see is a finality.....whereas God only sees a temporary state.
2007-09-19 17:01:59 · answer #6 · answered by sugarbee 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Other parts of the bible say that the dead sleep until judgement day. Jesus was just confirming what the bible already says.
2007-09-19 16:59:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Jesus tried to put things in words and concepts that we could understand. "Sleeping" is the closests thing we have to explain the state of who are separated from their bodies.
2007-09-19 17:33:34 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are talking about the little who died, I think Jesus just said that to calm the mother down. Jesus did not get in to a panic he was calm himself so people around him also felt calm.
2007-09-19 17:11:26 · answer #9 · answered by ? 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No tall tales here. First off for God nobody is really dead. He can raise them up any time he wants. Their soul always lives for him and he can make the body alive ..
2007-09-19 16:56:33 · answer #10 · answered by † PRAY † 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Sleeping is as close to death as you get without being dead. Right?
2007-09-19 17:01:10 · answer #11 · answered by sisterzeal 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋