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John 11
What spectacular claim does Jesus make in v. 25-26? Do you believe this? What difference does it make for you? Jesus reshapes what we know about life and death. Through Him we learn that what we think is life isn’t life and what we think is death isn’t death. I see confirmation of this in the Garden of Eden story. God told Adam that when he ate of the forbidden fruit he would surely die. Only they didn’t. At least not the way we think of death. In the flesh, they were still very much alive. It was the spirit that died in them, leading to an eternal death.
So we see Jesus’ statement in play. We can live in the flesh and we can live by believing in Jesus. As for death, except for those alive at Jesus’ return, we all die twice, according to how we live. Those who live only in the flesh have already died the spiritual death of Adam and Eve and their flesh will also one day die. They will then be deader than dead. But those who live by belief in Jesus have now died to the flesh so that when they later die in the flesh, their spirit still lives in Christ. That, then, is true life – life that can never be taken away.
1 Chron. 24-25
More organizational charts and lists! What does this suggest about God’s work? About your part in it? There must be some significance to all these lists of names and the numbers involved. I have no idea what it is. It does bring up the very general thought that God is a God of order, not chaos. We see Paul write about that in many of his epistles. It also brings to mind Paul’s writing about one body with many different parts, all parts being important to the whole. Finally, it speaks to the truth that there is no partiality with God, also noted by Paul. “The families of the oldest brother were treated the same as those of the youngest” (1 Chron. 24:31b). And again, “Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties.” (1 Chron. 25:8).