September 13–19
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: John 11:11; John 1:1–4; Luke 8:54, 55; John 5:28, 29; Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; John 11:38–44.
Memory Text: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live’ ” (John 11:25, NKJV).
umans have an innate repulsion toward death because we were created only to live and never to die. Death is an intruder; it was not meant to be.
That’s why, during His earthly ministry, Jesus showed immense sympathy toward the bereaved. When He saw the widow of Nain taking her only son to the grave, “He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep’ ” (Luke 7:13, NKJV). To a heartbroken father of a 12-yearold girl who had just died, Christ consoled him, saying: “ ‘Do not be afraid; only believe’ ” (Mark 5:36, NKJV). Every time death strikes our loved ones, Jesus is tenderly moved by our grief. His compassionate heart weeps with us.
But Christ does far more than weep. Having conquered death with His own death and resurrection, He owns the keys of death, and He promises to raise everyone who believes in Him to eternal life. This is, by far, the greatest promise that we have been given in God’s Word; otherwise, if death has the final say, our whole lives and everything we have ever accomplished will be in vain.
* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 20.
Sunday September 14
The State of the Dead
Old Testament writers consistently held that a human is an indivisible living being. The various Hebrew terms usually translated as flesh, soul, and spirit are just alternative ways to describe, from different points of view, the human person as a whole. In harmony with this perspective, the Scriptures use different metaphors to describe death. Among them, sleep stands out as a fitting symbol to reflect the biblical understanding of the condition of the dead (see Job 3:11–13, 14:12, Ps. 13:3, Jer. 51:39, Dan. 12:2). Death is the total end of life. Death is a state of unconsciousness in which there are no thoughts, emotions, works, or relationships of any kind (Eccles. 9:5, 6, 10; Ps. 115:17; 146:4).
By the time of Jesus, however, this view of humanity, and particularly of death, was challenged by the pagan dualistic concept of the immortality of the soul, which was rapidly propagating throughout the known world.
How did Jesus describe the death of his friend Lazarus? See John 11:11.
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Despite this and other passages, a number of Christians argue that Jesus believed in the immortality of the soul, for He said to the thief on the cross: “ ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise’ ” (Luke 23:43, NKJV). The meaning of this text changes entirely, depending on where the commas are laced. (The oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament don’t have punctuation marks.) If the comma is placed after you, as most Bible versions render the text, it means that Jesus and the thief went to Paradise that same day; if the comma is after today, the text means that Jesus assured the thief his future redemption. Actually, Jesus’ words emphasize assurance of salvation, not the timing of the thief ’s entrance into heaven. The context confirms this. To begin with, the thief had not asked for an immediate transfer to heaven at death but rather to be remembered when the Lord would come into His kingdom. Moreover, three days later Jesus Himself affirmed that He had not yet ascended to Paradise (John 20:17). This text, therefore, does not teach that the souls of the dead goto heaven after death.
Because we understand that death is an unconscious sleep, why is the teaching of the resurrection so crucial to us?
Monday September 15
The Hope of Resurrection
At Creation, “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” As a result, “man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7, NKJV). As long as God maintains the breath of life in the living creatures, they are alive. But when He takes away their breath, they die and return to dust (Ps. 04:29, Eccles. 12:7). This is not an arbitrary decision of God; it is the inevitable consequence of sin. But the good news is that, through Christ, there is hope, even in death.
Read: John 1:1–4. What is implied in these verses that shows us the power of Jesus to raise the dead?
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Christ has life in Himself, for He is the life (John 14:6). He created everything and has the power to give life to whom He wills (John 5:21). Thus, He can raise the dead.
How: does resurrection happen? See Luke 8:54, 55.
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According to the Bible, resurrection is the reversal of death. Life is restored when the breath of life comes back from God. That is how Luke explained the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter. After learning that the twelve-year-old girl had passed away, Jesus went to the house and told the mourners that she was sleeping. Then He “took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Little girl, arise.’ Then her spirit [pneuma] returned, and she arose immediately” (Luke 8:54, 55, NKJV). At Jesus’ divine command, the life principle imparted by God returned to the girl. The Greek term that Luke used, pneuma, means “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit.” When the Bible uses it in relation to human beings, it never denotes a conscious entity capable of existence apart from the body. In this text it clearly refers to the breath of life.
Death is so common that we take it for granted. How, though, can we learn to trust in God’s promises about eternal life, even though for now, death seems to be the victor?
Tuesday September 16
The Resurrection and the Judgement