Tag: eternal life

Where have you laid him?

Fr Dr Saji K Mathew3 Comments

Where have you laid him? (John 11:34)

Beyond the literal nature of the question, it has a much deeper meaning. As we read further, the deeper meaning slowly gets revealed. The response to Jesus’s question is ‘Lord come and see’, and ‘Jesus began to weep’.

In this instance, we see that instead of submitting the departed to Lord, people try to bring Jesus to the departed. This is not what is expected. The response to Jesus’ question should have been, Lord, kindly receive our beloved departed.

Jesus said earlier to Martha that those who believe in him, even though they die will live (vs.25). This statement is an eternal assurance to all who follow Jesus and depart from this world. For the living, the same statement is a guideline to how one should the departed.

There is a fundamental difference between the death of God’s children and others. In fact, those who reject God are put to death whereas His children are just given another name (Isaiah 65:15b). As we read in 1 Corinthians 15:51, ‘We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed’. These verses guide us to treat our departed as living, and are just transformed from earthly realm to a divine space. Moreover, God is not a God of the dead, but of the living (Mark 12:27). Jesus said, Because I live, you shall also live’ (John 14:19). This was prophesied by Job years ago when he stated ‘I know my redeemer lives’ (Job 19:25). Unfortunately, we often fail to understand these, and are often led by the ways of the gentiles.

Lazarus was very close to Lord Jesus as evident from verse 3. Therefore, there is no need to panic or worry about Lazarus’ state of life. However, there are three contradictory situations witnessed around this incident:

1. Even before Jesus was informed about the death of Lazarus, Jesus knew that, and disclosed it to the disciples, ‘Our friend Lazarus is asleep; but I am going there to wake him up (vs.11). However, the response from the disciples reflect spiritual immaturity and ignorance, ‘Lord if he sleeps he will get better’ (vs. 12). Unfortunately, even the disciples could not differentiate between natural sleep and sleeping in Christ. Hence, Jesus had to clarify in plain language that Lazarus is dead.

This brief conversation and concluding statement that Lazarus is dead is a message for the church that it should not ignore the departed as they are precious to Jesus. If the Church had to forget the dead, Jesus would have told the disciples not to worry anymore about Lazarus as he is dead. Instead, Jesus decides to travel to Bethany with His disciples, even though it was a risky affair (see vs. 15-16). The Psalmist says, ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants (Psalms 116:115).

2. We see another misunderstanding about the dead in the conversation between Martha and Jesus. Even after Jesus clearly telling Martha that her brother will rise again, her response is ‘post-dated’, ignoring the fact that Jesus was the resurrection and life (vs. 25). Whilst Martha responds to Jesus’ statement by acknowledging, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day’ (vs. 24), Jesus corrects her with a statement that reflects it (resurrection) is not a future event but it is NOW. Our beloved departed are not alive in this world, but are well alive and living in Christ. St. Paul explicitly states, ‘Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him’ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). The death of God’s children is termed First death’ in Bible (Revelations 20:6), and they will not be subjected to ‘Second death’ as it is meant for the unfaithful (also see Revelations 2:11). The Second death is destined to happen at the second coming of Jesus when the dead and alive will be judged according to their deeds (Revelations 20:12; also see 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Often in our state of uncontrolled and mismanaged emotions, we go crazy and indulge in weird practices, as a demonstration of our love for our beloved departed. As a result, our focus is directed towards worldly glories, decorating the tomb, and making the burial service a show off. And, in the course of these, we forget handing over our beloved departed into the hands of Jesus, but just bury them off according to our ways, and grieve and weep without any hope . This is what Jesus witnessed at Bethany when he saw Martha, Mary and all others weeping, at which Jesus was moved in spirit and troubled (vs.33). Instead, as mentioned above, the family members are expected to be spiritually responsible in handing over the beloved departed into Lord’s hands.

3. The worst of spiritual ignorance is evident from the criticism of some of the people assembled there, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of blind man have kept this man from dying’ (vs. 37).

It is often the case, that people lack farsightedness, and are often shackled with short term gains. The people gathered in Bethany could not distinguish between life in this world and life in Christ. Such nearsightedness only expect Jesus to help and support them with their worldly needs rather than eternal ones. St. Paul instructs the Colossians to set their minds on things above, and not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2). The minds and hearts of people are often connected to Jesus through worldly things. Instead we ought to have a direct connection. If we try to connect with Lord through our personal gains only, it is selfishness. On the contrary, if we ignore our selfish desires and motives and seek Lord with a pure heart, it is true faith, and we will be able to see the glory of God (vs. 40).

In the whole episode at Bethany, the disciples represent the Church, Martha and Mary represent the family of the departed, and the people gathered represent the congregation. And we see here, Jesus clearly instructing all the three regarding the faithful departed. There is no better evidence in the Bible to demonstrate the state of departed and their status when they are removed from this world. It is only a transformation and not destruction because Jesus has come to give life in abundance; and, in fact it is Satan who comes to destroy (John 10:10).

More importantly, the responsibility of the Church, family of departed and the wider congregation is to submit the faithful departed into the hands of Jesus Christ.

Let us submit our faithful departed into Lord’s hands. Amen.

Possessions and Eternal Life: A study of the conversation between Jesus Christ and the rich man (Part 2)

Fr Dr Saji K Mathew1 Comment

Matthew 19:16-21; Mark 10:17-22; and Luke 18:18-23.

In Part-1 we analysed about inherited possessions. Part 2 is about shared possession. As discussed in Part-1 we are looking into demonic possessions and the origin and continuity of demonic possessions which down the generations becomes strongholds.

Part-2 is about shared possessions. Shared possessions, as the phrase suggests, are the sharing of demons among the living. For example, in Genesis 3:1-6 we read that Satan entered into Eve through the fruit which she ate. Eve is now possessed with Satan or demon (demons are the subordinates, Satan being the head). Eve then reaches out to Adam and shares this possession, and makes Adam too to commit the same disobedience which she committed a moment back. In this way, the demonic possession is shared between Adam and Eve.

Another sharing of possession is seen in Genesis 6:2. Here the sons of God (another group of angels that later joined Lucifer) took wives for themselves from human beings. Thus God’s angels become fallen angels who then enter human beings. Here both the angels and the ‘daughters of men’ are equally the culprits, rebelling against God, thereby sharing evil possessions.

Again, as mentioned in Part-1, Ham saw the nakedness of his father and committed sin thereby being possessed. In Genesis 9:22 it is written than Ham went and told his two brothers what he saw. This act of Ham was demon prompted so as to share the evil by passing on to his two brothers, Shem and Japheth. Apparently, the other two brothers resisted as we read in the following verse.

Esau, son of Isaac and brother of Jacob, is seen entering into unholy alliances, and offcourse demonic, when he took wives from the Hittite (also called Hethite) tribe who were the descendants of Canaan (Genesis 10:15). Thus the demons which descended down the generational line among the Canaanites now found a new family line to share, through Esau. In this way, the promises made to his grandfather Abraham and father Isaac are now being deprived of Esau due to his unholy alliance.

The demons are further seen invading God’s chosen (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) generation’s line by using the tactic of sharing, this time through one of the sons of Jacob. It is written that Judah separated from his brothers and settled independently- obvious that when we leave our fellowship we are prone to demonic attack. Judah was not an exception, as he married a Canaanite and settled in an alien land (Genesis 38:2). The demon/s thus shared by this Canaanite daughter with Judah is/are seen articulating into the worst of actions as detailed later in this chapter (see Genesis 38:13-19).

The above examples suggest the need for alliances and combinations to be holy in Lord’s sight, corruption of which is a sure sign of demonic interference. Saint Paul appeals in Romans (12:1) ‘to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God’. In Leviticus 10:1-2 Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aron offered unholy fire before the Lord. As a result fire came from God and consumed them. The act of these two was in violation to the instruction of Lord regarding incense as detailed in Exodus 30:34-38. In this case, we see an unholy combination of items, where holy items were mixed with impure/unholy items. Any such foreign interference should be treated as demonic, and is corruption. For example, the life of Adam and Eve with God was holy until Satan interfered and corrupted the atmosphere in the Garden of Eden. In Malachi (2:8), the priests are blamed for corrupting the covenant of Levy and weakening laws instructed by Lord. Corruption and weakening happens when sharing occurs between impure and pure. Now, whether it is regarding human relations or the materials handled by humans, it needs to be holy as acceptable to Lord. Saint Peter exhorts to long for the pure spiritual milks so as to receive salvation (1 Peter 2:2). Further, he says that we are called to a holy priesthood, and offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). Hence it could be concluded undoubtedly that those who are holy of God must not handle or interact with unholy things, and similarly, unholy people must not handle holy things. In short, we should be clear about what others are sharing with us- is it demonic or holy.

God’s people are holy, and hence their interactions and mixings must be careful, failing to which there will always be a chance of sharing corruption and impurity- which is demonic. As mentioned above, Judah left the house of Jacob for a gentile wife and hence is cut off from Lord’s favour (Malachi 2:11). Later in his own tribe we see the great King Solomon attracted to many gentile women and marrying them, and eventually falling into the disaster that his gentile wives turned his heart away from God towards other gods (1 Kings 11:3-4). In both these cases, we can see the fall of Lord’s chosen through the sharing of their precious possessions with demonic possessions; for the foreign wives are ‘daughters of foreign gods’ (Malachi 2:11), and hence demonic.

It is important for the true followers of Christ to be cautious about the possessions they share either by giving or by accepting. Jesus said, ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearl before swine’ (Matthew 7:6). A person holy to God cannot unite with un-holiness or else fall is certain. Our body, soul and spirit are united with the body of Christ, hence Saint Paul said, ‘……it’s no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20). Being transformed into the body of Christ, we must not allow demonic possessions to be shared into our lives. Paul cautions in 1 Corinthians 6:15-16 if we commit adultery (adultery in Bible also means worshipping idols) a sharing of possessions takes place as holy body and demonic body unites to become one. In such a situation our holiness will be corrupted and destroyed by demonic possessions, for ‘bad company ruins good morals’ (1 Corinthians 15:33). Please also read 1 Corinthians 5:9-11. Our spiritual joy is kept intact when we ‘do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of the scoffers’ (Psalms 1:1). In this way, we won’t be sharing any demonic possessions.

It’s obvious to think, how then a true Christian can survive in this world. In a world full of demonic activities we will then have to leave the world (1 Corinthians 5:10).  However, Romans 12:2 assures that when we are transformed in Christ, we also receive renewal of our minds so as to ‘discern what is good, and acceptable, and perfect’. The gift of discernment of spirits (holy and demonic) (1 Corinthians 12:10) is important for a believer to avoid fall. Saint Paul is strict to instruct ‘Do not even eat with’ the demonic (1 Corinthians 5:11).

It may be worth mentioning here about the demonic possessions waiting to be shared through some sporting and entertainment activities, as an example. For instance, cruel sports involving animals such as bull fighting, cock fighting and dog fighting are demonic in the sense that people who cheers and watches are either demon possessed already or are lured by the demons to share their possessions through bloodsheds as a result of such fights. Similarly, boxing and fighting in rings are demonic as they are controlled by demonic forces to destroy the bodies- again through spilling blood. In the case of Gerasene demoniac it is mentioned that he bruised himself with stones (Mark 5:5). This was a demonic custom, as part of the practice of initiation among idol worshippers and occultists as stated in 1 Kings 18:28. We have around us many such traps with demons waiting to share their possessions. Once entered into a person, the demons start their job of multiplying by inviting other demons into the person’s lives- thus sharing possessions (see Matthew 12:45). A legion (could be between 1000-6000) was present in the poor Gerasene guy (Mark 5:9). This is a bad effect of generational sin as well, that unless delivered a demonic possession may keep multiplying down the genealogical line by means of shared possessions.

One of the bad effects of technological advances is the levelling of breeding ground for sharing evil possession. For instance, mobile and internet technology have accelerated the spread of pornography, abuses, rape and other demonic activities. A person once caught in this web is certain to further indulge in perversions and thereby collecting more demonic possessions through sharing.

A lot more can be written about shared possessions, but let me conclude here, it is better to exercise precaution so as not to fall. However, if fallen, make sure to immediately repent and cleansed in the blood of Christ, for His blood cleanses us from all the sins (1 John 1:9), no matter, how grave our sins are (Isiah 1:18).

                                                                                                                                       to be continued……