Carole

Q4. Why did Jesus' enemies heed his prediction of being raised on the third day even more than his disciples? Did his enemies expect him to rise? Did his followers? Obviously no one truly expected him to come out of the grave on his own. That was completely beyond the ability of human understanding. No one did that. The disciples clearly didn't look for Jesus to come back. They'd seen him die. They'd buried him. They were currently in hiding lest the same should happen to them. Jesus' enemies didn't really expect him to rise. They were only covering all the bases. They'd experienced attempts at revolution before and they didn't want to leave that opportunity here. In fact, at least one of Jesus' disciples was a Zealot. There is every reason to believe that there were others. Jesus' enemies placed guards at the tomb because, as they said, "his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

Q3. (John 11:23-25) What do you think Jesus meant when he said, "I am the resurrection and the life"? What role will Jesus play in the resurrection of the dead? Maybe Jesus was touching on one of those perspective shifts that God so often calls us to see. "Life" to God doesn't mean breathing and doing and such. "Death" to God doesn't mean a cessation of activitiy. This is evident in the understanding that those who have died (ceased to breathe) are not beyond God's knowledge. They did not cease to exist and God knows and understands their continued existence. So, to God, they still live. They are only "dead" to us. Why? Because we no longer have them with us. Therefore, to truly "live" means to be in the presence of God. That's why Jesus could say, "I am the resurrection and the life." Those who were/are in Jesus presence are truly alive. Those who do not share in Jesus' presence were/are not. What role will Jesus play in the resurrection of the dead? He will himself raise us up. He alone has the power to do that. He will determine who is raised to life and who is raised to condemnation. He alone has the authority to do that.

Q2. (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15) According to scripture, both the righteous and unrighteous will experience resurrection. What will be the result of resurrection for the righteous? According to Jesus, the righteous will be raised to live. One can only imagine what this second life will be like. Jesus sets in contrast the righeous and the unrighteous who are raised to be condemned. This seems to suggest two opposing situations: condemnation is the opposite of living. Right now in this present life we live with condemnation: from ourselves, other people or legal institutions. In this future life that Jesus spoke about there will be two groups: those who experience condemnation without life and those who experience life without condemnation. In this contrast the word "life" does not seem to mean what we think of as "life" (e.g. breathing, activity, etc.). As is often true, God's understanding is vastly different from ours.

Q1. How does Job's vision of resurrection (Job 19:25-27) differ from the Jews' former understanding of death as Sheol? What is progressive revelation? Progressive revelation: Something that is progressive is characterized by continuous improvement. A revelation is something that was previously unknown but has now been made known. Therefore "progressive revelation" is the continuous making known of previously unknown things. This is the way life works. None of us are born knowing it all. Nor are we born again with complete knowledge. God is continuously making known to us things that were previously not in our knowledge bank. And so God has always worked with mankind. The Jews' former understanding of death was that of a spiritual existence only. Job introduces the idea of physical resurrection.

Hi, my name is Carole. I live in a small town in SW Idaho. I'm 49 years old. I have 4 grown children. Currently I'm working full-time and going to school full-time so I keep pretty busy. I love the Lord with all my heart and am looking forward to this study.