Why did Lazarus die a second time ?

by google_mE 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  google_mE

  Anyone know the JW explanation to why did anyone who was resurrected by Jesus (or any of the other prophets in the Bible), die a second time ?

  Were they resurrected imperfect, w/ Adamic sin or something ? Was Jesus unable to (or chose not to) resurrect them perfectly ?

  My thought is, if (in JW land) "the wages sin pays is death" and they payed that debt when they died the 1st time, Then why did they have to pay with their life a 2nd time ? They should be "debt free" in their second life, right ?

  -GmE
• 

  nugget

  Very good question. As a JW we were taught that they died because although they were cured of whatever ailment had killed them the ransom had not been paid and so they would still deteriorate and die. It does not explain why those resurrected by the apostles went on to die since surely by then Jesus had offered the value of his sacrificial death in heaven. Unless because they were imperfect men they could only offer an imperfect resurrection.

  Good one to ponder
• 

  moomanchu

  Yeah, they received the gift of a second death ?????

  Hey wait a minute.....
• 

  blondie

  Other people were resurrected pre-Jesus in the Bible, by Elisha and Elijah, those people died again. The WTS teaches that when people are resurrected into heaven they will receive immortality and those resurrected after Armageddon to live on earth, will receive everlasting life on earth after they pass the final test by Satan at the end of the Millennium.
• 

  MrFreeze

  moomanchu, I don't know why but your comment made me laugh.
• 

  strymeckirules

  can anyone think of direct scriptures that prove this one way or the other?

  i can't remember reading that the resurrected ones died again. in any of the books i've read. they seldom mention the resurrected person again.

  i wonder if it has to do with the "man born of woman verse man born of spirit" arguement. those brought back were still in "born from woman" form.
• 

  Nickolas

  There is no mention in the Bible of what happened to the the resurrected ones, including Lazarus. This is rather odd. Given their extraordinarily remarkable experience, one would think people would be thronging around them asking questions and that their lives would be followed and chronicled. But not even a word about them after their miraculous experiences. That it never happened is testimony to a logical conclusion that it never happened. The Lazarus story is remarkable in other contexts as well. Early Christians referred to Lazareth as the Wandering Jew, who was condemned to walk the earth forever in order to fulfill the folkloric prophecy that Jesus would come again in the lifetime of at least one person who had seen him when he made his first appearance.

  All nonsense, of course. If Lazarus was not a ficticious character, there is no evidence to support he ever existed, just as there is no evidence whatsoever that the biblical accounting of his resurrection wasn't ficticious.
• 

  dgp

  Ditto, Nickolas. What about the daughter of Jairus?
• 

  Band on the Run

  This Lazarus question makes a very powerful and moving scene in the book and film The Last Temptation of Christ by Kaztenzakis. In order to highlight Jesus' humanity, often sacricied at the expense of emphasizinghis divinity, he has Jesus hallucinate during the pain of the crucifixion. Satan, as young female child angels, informs him that he need not suffer. Jesus proved his willingness to die horribly. God believes in good life. He walks away from the cross and lives a full life. First, he marries his true love, Mary Magadalene. She died, The angel points out he has need and suggest Mary, sister of Lazarus. He marries her and has many children. As he is near death, he overhears outrageous lies pouring forth out of the mouth of Saul of Tarsus.

  He hunts Paul down and there is a big argument. He is adamant he did not die. God does not need death. God wants life. Paul is not deferntial He says the Risen Christ is important and, furthermore, he will assert the Risen Christ whether Jesus die or did not die. Jesus is stunned. Memories flood him. He wants to die for Paul's gospel. He begs God to let him die. The hallucination is broken and the reader returns to Jesus' last moment on the cross.

  Katzenzakis and Scorcese raise the Lazarus problem. Scorcese shows him as man with several days rot remaining in his flesh. He is a walking cadaver. While people rejoice over the miracle, zealots angered by Jesus' complete lack of social conscience, sneak up on Lazarus and assasinate him. I think there is also some commentary that Lazarus must hide out from the Jewish authorities for his own good.

  The decayed body makes a point. The Last Temptation of Christ is one of my all time favorite books, along with Mere Christianity and the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. All those questions I had reading the gospels are mulled over by Katzenzakis. He was not a believer when he wrote the book but it was not written as antiJesus polemics. Rather, both Katzenzakis and Scorcese studied for priesthood. Romanticism about Jesus dies with book.
• 

  cyberjesus

  Glitch on the program