What did Jesus say about Lazurus being dead?
How does Lazurus’ story differ from all the current stories of coming back from death or near death?
Thanks for the other verses.
You tell me. I was merely pointing out that the definition of death as “never coming back” is either severely flawed given the 10 biblical accounts of people coming back from the dead, or the biblical accounts are wrong.
I think we can both agree that, given the biblical accounts, it is possible for someone to come back from the dead...with help. As far as the near death experiencers, how do we know they did not have supernatural help from angels or Christ Himself? After all, the common theme among these NDE’s is that they were told that it was not yet their time to die. It is no great jump to think they had help coming back.
‘Sleep’ is frequently used in the NT to allude to death.
1 Corinthians 15:50-52New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The Mystery of Resurrection
50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
well, as Martha pointed out: he was in the ground for three days and already stinkith.
In Africa and Muslim lands, often people faint or go comatose and are thought to be dead, so might be buried prematurely. So raising someone from the dead is not an unknown occurance. Jesus delayed a couple days before going to Lazurus' house in order to make a point that he wasn't merely dead, he was really really dead.(to quote the Wizard of Oz)
People knew the difference, just as they saw the man born blind who got his sight as a bigger miracle than giving sight to ordinary blind folks, where a medical explanation might happen.
Statistically about 5 percent of mentally stable people have seen the dead, almost as if the dead want them to leave a message for their loved ones. And about 60 percent of widows/widowers see, hear, dream about or feel the presence of their beloved dead spouses.
And in medicine, we all know patients who come out of comas to say goodbye (my father did) or who saw someone, usually a close relative, "from the other side" when they were dying.
Often patients know when they will die, and we were told in medical school if a person said they didn't want to have surgery because they will die, then we shouldn't do the surgery, because sure enough they will die. Or we will have people cling to life until a relative comes. Sometimes they will die after a priest or minister prays for them and tells them they are in God's hands... I had one man, terminal, that would not give in, even after I sent him to be prayed over. It turned out that his son was in Afghanistan. We arranged the son to come home, and he was with the father when he died a week later.
As for "near death experiences": The book on the passengers who were on the plane that landed in the Hudson river relates that many of them had "near death experience" where they saw their lives pass in front of them, etc. Yes, probably from stress, but these things are documented.