Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Thomas!
The Questions
1) Why had the Jews in Judea tried to stone Jesus?
2) Jesus said Lazarus would not die, but he did. Was this double-talk?
3) What was Thomas’ assumption? What was his motivation?
John 11:1-16
11 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. 7 Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”
8 “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?”
9 “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”
11 He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.”
12 Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”
13 Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. 14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”
Original Intent
1) Why had the Jews in Judea tried to stone Jesus?
Jesus was in the temple in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah. While there, he was surrounded and harassed by people who demanded to know if He was the Promised Messiah. He responded with clarity, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:22-33) While it may not be obvious to us, to Jesus’ audience, they heard nothing but, “I Am God.” The Jews believed Jesus was blaspheming God by claiming Himself to be equal with God. After all the signs Jesus had shown proving His Holy Other-ness, these Jews still didn’t get it. According to Old Testament law, blasphemers were to be stoned to death; this was their intention and their motivation. (Leviticus 24:16)
2) Jesus said Lazarus would not die but he did. Was this double-talk?
Lazarus was very sick and, as some commentaries conclude, had already died before the messenger even reached Jesus and His disciples to tell them of the illness. Jesus knew He would not make it back to Lazarus in time to keep him from experiencing physical death. However, this event would not ultimately end in death, because Jesus would resurrect Lazarus. By staying away as He did, Jesus ensured that the resurrection would be a miracle beyond miracles for the family and other witnesses who had gathered. This would show the glory of God through Jesus and certainly cause many to believe. Jesus’ plans to bring glory to God and comfort to the ones He loved went far beyond their temporary insistence of what “should” happen.
3) What was Thomas’ assumption? What was his motivation?
Thomas assumed that Jesus’ return to Judea would mean His demise. Surely the Jews would do everything necessary to ensure His stoning was a success this time. His motivation must have been, as D. A. Carson wrote in The Pillar New Testament Commentary on the Gospel of John, “raw devotion and courage.” Thomas was willing to face his own death alongside Jesus, in support of Jesus, with devotion to Jesus.
Everyday Application
1) Why had the Jews in Judea tried to stone Jesus?
Blaspheming – asserting yourself as God – is a sin worthy of death, both in the Old Testament and today. For anyone else in all of history, or in the days to come, to make the statement Jesus made about Himself would indeed be blasphemy. He is the only One who truly is God.
Thomas knew, and believed, Jesus was indeed God. He understood the political tension that existed because not everyone, especially the Pharisees, recognized Jesus for who He really was. Because Thomas realized this, he knew persecution was to be expected. As a believer in the One True God, you can be assured that persecution is still active today. In the United States, it has not yet reached the proportions of other nations, and we consider ourselves blessed. But we should not become complacent; rather, we need to remain steadfast in Christ and aware of the times.
2) Jesus said Lazarus would not die but he did. Was this double-talk?
The story of Lazarus’ resurrection teaches a valuable lesson: in certain circumstances, God may wait to provide help so that when He does, His glory shines more brilliantly! In my own life, He has come through financially several times when I thought I would surely go hungry or lose my car, etc. Can you reflect on an instance of God glorifying Himself through your difficulties? Where are you struggling to trust His way over yours? Take comfort in the solid truth that He will never abandon and is always working for your good and His glory! (Romans 8:27-29)
3) What was Thomas’ assumption? What was his motivation?
Thomas garnered the unfortunate nickname of “the doubter” because of his desire to have visual confirmation of Jesus’ resurrection (John 20:24-29). Yet, there was no doubt that Thomas was deeply devoted to Jesus. Put yourself in his shoes…would you have been courageous to go with Jesus to Lazarus’ hometown, even if it meant your death? Are you – right at this moment – willing to follow Jesus, even if it means facing dire consequences, persecution, and possibly death? That’s His calling, it’s the cost of discipleship: a willingness to die to self in a hundred different ways in order for the glory of the Lord to be on display in us. He wants all of us, each of us. This is not a journey for the faint of heart, but oh, some days I would rather just sit in my comfortable chair than follow Jesus. Can you relate? Will you pray with me to have fully devoted, courageous hearts full of faith?
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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