The Pivot-Point of Death

Scripture: So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.” John 11:14-16

Observation: With Lazarus dead, Jesus is about to go Bethany. At first the disciples try to stop him, as Bethany is close to Jerusalem where the Pharisees just tried to kill him, but when Jesus decides to go Thomas makes this statement ... let us go too so we may die with him.

A common thought is that Thomas is saying they should go because Jesus will die, so the disciples should go and be tried and die with him. However, a plain reading of the text would indicate Thomas is actually talking about Lazarus. Lazarus - a friend they all knew - is dead, there is danger ahead, so they might as well all go and die. One could even read this as sarcasm ... Lazarus is dead, Bethany is dangerous, everyone is out to kill Jesus, so heck we might as well ALL die because this adventure is at an end.

This is the same Thomas that will doubt Jesus' resurrection until Jesus himself shows him the scars in his hands and side. Here, he seems to be flippantly declaring that this entire ministry is at an end. Of course, eventually he will know so strongly that Jesus is the Messiah that he will spread the gospel to India and maybe as far as China, as perhaps the apostle who traveled the farthest with the good news.

It seems that, despite being one of the 12 selected disciples, Thomas more than doubts the resurrection. He may doubt the entire ministry, unclear of where "the line" is between what Jesus as the Messiah is capable of doing, and what the worldly authorities are capable of doing to him. At the very least, Thomas appears to draw a line at the concept of death ... no matter what, for him death is final. Whether you are Jesus, Lazarus, or the disciples, when the world kills you by disease, age, or human action, that's game-over.

Application: The "issue" of death is, perhaps, one of the most interesting issues when it comes to faith. There are believers who have doubts about how eternal life in heaven really works. Strangely, there are people who entirely disbelieve in God who still think that somehow some part of us lives forever. This topic was even the key item that resulted in Paul's trial, and one he used to pit different Jewish factions against one another.

Thomas began expressing this complex view about death before he even actively doubted Jesus' resurrection. However, I would think witnessing the resurrection of Lazarus began his turnaround, and touching Jesus completed it.

I have seen so many great things done by the Lord ... I wish I had Thomas' resulting level of commitment. I am too passive for what I have seen and know and believe. I am confident death is not final, and while I have no real understanding of heaven I know I am eternally saved by faith in Jesus.

I don't see Thomas as 'doubting', but rather as a person who understood the science of death but needed to see through to the reality of the one who controls and invented science. I would like to see through to that more often as well.

Prayer: Lord, today I continue on my journey here in the world. I wish more and more to live within the spirit and within the kingdom, and while I interact with the world I strive to not live within the limitations that the world would seem to impose. Amen.