Raising Lazarus For Glory (part 5)

With this question from Jesus, and His reference to belief and the glory of God, an observers thoughts are returned to the beginning of the story of Lazarus.  As Lazarus and his plight is introduced into the Gospel narrative, Jesus says that “This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory” (11:4b).  Once again, one must look past the immediate circumstance of the Lazarus issue, hearing the story as a component of a wider narrative (within a wider narrative) with a certain theological, sociological, and religious objective, in order to truly understand that to which Jesus is referring when He speaks about the Creator God’s glory.  Without making that effort, it would be tempting to think that the glory of the Creator God will be demonstrated through the raising of Lazarus, but in reality, the raising is only relational, and it serves only as a catalyst to that which will truly reveal the glory of the covenant God of Israel. 

The author reports that Jesus casts His eyes heavenward (11:41), and, one would have to imagine, thinking through what it was that is going to be accomplished through the events that this Gospel portrays as being set in motion through this raising, Jesus offers thankfulness for the power that will be put on display that will have the result that the people “may believe that You sent Me” (11:42b).  Having done this, Jesus, with a loud voice, said, “Lazarus, come out!” (11:43b)  As should be expected from all that has been reported to this point in the story of John, that is precisely what happened.  Lazarus came out of the tomb.  What was the result?  The author says that “Many of the people who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him” (11:45), thus setting the stage for the previously mentioned glory of the Creator God that was soon to be manifested. 

John indicates that this growth in the number of those that believed in Jesus caused a widespread furor.  Honestly, one can only imagine the response to reports about a dead man being raised back to life.  In what is said to be a direct response to this occurrence and the furor that it created, “The chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said… If we allow Him to go on in this way, everyone will believe in Him” (11:47a, 48a).  This statement thus continues the march towards uncovering that to which Jesus was referring when He spoke of the glory of His God in connection with Lazarus’ death and raising. 

Continuing this same story that began with the report of Lazarus’ sickness, some short period of time later, when there was “six days before the Passover” (12:1a), the reader learns that “Jesus came to Bethany” (12:1b).  This place, of course, was inhabited by those that had seen the great miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead.  This would, undoubtedly, be a defining moment for Bethany for all of its existence, so it is wholly unsurprising that the author reports about “a large crowd of Judeans” that “learned that Jesus was there, and so they came not only because of Him but also to see Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead” (12:9).  Here one can note that Lazarus’ raising, as it was drawing people to Jesus, and ultimately to His mission and way of ushering in the kingdom of heaven on earth, was still being used as an instrument in the Creator God’s hands for the purpose of His own glory. 

Apparently the “Lazarus event” was quite well known, so much so that “the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too, for on account of him many of the Jewish people were going away and believing in Jesus” (12:10-11).  This was a problem on many levels.  One of the reasons that it was a significant problem in the eyes of the chief priests and Pharisees that the people were going away and believing in Jesus, was that Jesus was seen as somebody that was not rigorously keeping to the covenant markers (works of the law) that were so vitally important to Israel’s national interests in that day.  

Believing For Pleasing (part 2 of 2)

So when the author of the first letter of John writes that “this is His commandment” (3:23a), He is speaking to a group of people that should be in a position to well understand what is meant by “commandment” and that which “pleases God.”  This is especially so among Jewish believers, as it is borne in mind that Christianity (to use a general referent) was a Resurrection and creation restoration movement that had its roots in Judaism, that looked to the one now confirmed to have been the Jewish Messiah as its founder and resurrected Leader, was informed and undergirded by the history and prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures, and which was understood to be the movement of the Creator God in fulfillment of His desire and His promise to bless all nations through His covenant people. 

Because of these things, the reader also does well to remember that the Jewish understanding of righteousness, covenant, commandment, and Resurrection would be fundamental in forming the theology of the new movement that was now centered upon Jesus, the son of Joseph, who was said to have hailed from Nazareth.  So even if the author is writing to a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles, or to a group predominantly composed of Gentiles, Jewish understanding of the primary concepts would always have to be front and center in order to make any sense of the message of Jesus, of the Kingdom of heaven, or of the sovereign, creative, providential, and covenant God.

With that covered, one can infer that, with talk of commandments, reference is indeed being made to covenant markers.  Reference is being made to that which denotes a person as being in positive covenant standing, and therefore part of the kingdom of the Creator God that was understood to have been unexpectedly inaugurated in the midst of history with the Resurrection of Jesus, and therefore righteous (justified) and pleasing to God.  This was always an important and controversial issue within the very early church.  There was a group of believers that firmly believed that the works of the law---the established covenant markers---needed to be kept in place to identify believers as people under the covenant.  These individuals should not be painted as enemies, but rather, as those that also sought to live by faith. 

Likewise, and contrary (in this matter) to those that believed that the established covenant markers needed to be maintained so that covenant members could be readily identified, there was a group of believers, of which the Apostle Paul seems to be the loudest voice, that said that the only thing that was necessary was a confessed belief in the Gospel of Jesus (He is Lord of all), and that it was this alone, which sprung from a faith that was somehow gifted by the Holy Spirit as a gracious and sovereign act of the Creator God, signaled a believer’s membership in the kingdom of the Creator God, making them righteous (justified), pleasing to God, and partakers in the covenant God’s promised blessings for His people. 

The author of this letter seems to be very much in agreement with this second position, as even though he takes the liberty of redundantly adding “and love one another” (which would be the natural outworking of a believing union with Christ that would make one a vehicle for God’s blessings), it is quite clear that he is of the opinion that believing in Jesus as the crucified and resurrected Son of God (King of Israel/Messiah), is that which brought one into the covenant, sealing a person into the kingdom of the Creator God.  Belief in Jesus and in His Gospel (messiah-ship, crucifixion, Resurrection, rule as Lord of all) was paramount.  All else was secondary, flowing from the faith and power housed within that message.    

Believing For Pleasing (part 1 of 2)

Now this is His commandment: that we believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He gave us the commandment. – 1 John 3:23  (NET)

Prior to writing this, the author of the letter (presumably the disciple named John) alerts his readers, with the words that comprise the twenty-second verse, that the commandments that are spoken of here in the twenty-third verse are “pleasing to Him” (3:22b).  Is there a context that will enable the reader of the letter, then and no w, to better understand the weight of what it is that is here being passed along for consumption and reflection by the community of Jesus-believers?  Of course there is, and it is a context that is created by the use of the words “righteous” and “righteousness” in the lead-up to these statements about the commandments and what is pleasing to the Creator God. 

The use of “righteous” and “righteousness” among those that are steeped or, at the least, partially educated in the narrative of Israel by which the work of the Creator God and the Messiah’s mission and kingdom must be understood, would naturally invoke thoughts of covenant, covenant requirements, and covenant faithfulness in the mind of the reader.  Attending those various thoughts concerning covenant would be a consideration of the works of the law. 

“Works of the law,” contrary to being a negative term or a set of rules or works by which one gained righteousness or attempted to achieve heaven upon death, was simply a first century term used to denote those things that served as responsive markers to demonstrate inclusion in the Creator God’s covenant people (Israel).  The works of the law were circumcision, and Sabbath-keeping, along with food and purity laws.  Adherence to these works of the law identified a person as being a covenant member in good standing.  Additionally, it is worth bearing in mind that these works were not ways to get into positive covenant status, but were the responses to the grace of the Creator God and His offer of the opportunity to be in good covenant standing with Him (righteousness). 

Because the modern reader is likely to be so far removed from this sensibility, having had the false dichotomy of “works versus grace” hammered into his or her consciousness, it is worth reiterating that adhering to these things, or the works of the law, simply identified an individual as being in positive covenant standing.  They were not designed to earn anything, much less the favor of their God.  This adherence demonstrated that one was righteous.  If one was considered to be righteous, then that person was justified before the Creator God, experiencing that God’s covenant faithfulness, or His righteousness. 

Amongst the covenant people, and most likely the new covenant people that were Gentiles, this was well understood in that day.  It was part of the air that they breathed.  It cannot be said enough, contra so much of the sensibilities of modern Christianity, that the works of the law, most assuredly, did not function or stand as attempts to earn entrance into heaven after death by valiant efforts at keeping the law.  Performing the works of the law, again, was a covenant marker that, interestingly enough, demonstrated a trust in the Creator God and in His power to perform according to His promises, in a firm reliance on His covenant faithfulness.  Adhering to the works of the law, and making sure that they were performed appropriately, was an act of faith.