“I just watched a man being Baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints – on my phone – live!“
Where Art Thou?
Why are SMART JEWS alway trying to murder Jesus and Lasaraus, while LESS SMART JEWS, believe in Jesus. Dumb Jews questioned Lazarus about his experiences in heaven, on Yon Hither Side? Why didn’t Jesus use this as proof of what is going to happen to him – soon! Jesus berates Peter for not going along with the Secret Crucifixion Plan. There is much evidence the Disciples did not have a clue this was..
THE MAIN PLAN OF GOD
You would think God would have chosen Very Clever Jews for His Son, like…
SAUL OF TARSUS
Saint Paul studied under Gamaliel, and said he was “The Pharisee of Pharisees” We know he can write – real good! Why didn’t God delay the birth of His only Begotten Son….
UNTIL SAUL PAUL IS BORN?
Thelogians can make a good case that Saul is – The Second Begotten Son of God!
Why didn’t Realy Smart Jews arrest Paul-Saul and put him on trial – after Berenice and her brother – CUT HIM LOSE? Did the Herodian Royals approve of Paul hunting down Jews, putting them in prison, and torturing them in order to get them to….
“DENONCE THEIR LORD”
Did Saul torture children in fron of their parents in order to get them to deny they saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead?
Thank God I alas realize I am the Embodiment of Lazarus so that these Good Questions can be asked – alas!
Last night, Itold the Three Sisters I am putting off being baptized after I realized I own ONE DEATH, and I will own…..TWO DEATHS! Because I told them I died, saw God, and the Kingdom of God – what good can a common baptism do me?
Members of the LDS assured me I will be united with my Dead Folks – after I die. I told them the big question I own – is why I stopped being united with my people….
AFTER CHRISTINE DIED?
I told the Sisters we both died on very dramatic and dangerous rocks. The first question I will be asking after my Second Death, is…..
“My dear beloved sister….How did you die!”
Question No. 2…..
“Were you the embodiment of Martha or Mary?”
Above is photo of me taken by Christine Rosamond Benton in her studio, She wants me to be her first male portrait. But, she freaked when she saw the energy around me. I showed this energy to the Sisters – who ruled I can afford to pay $100 a month in tithe. I told them I get SSI.
John ‘The Baptist of Lazarus’
John Presco
President and Prophet of…The Loving Tree of Lazarus Church.
EXTRA! God has just given me – a financial solutions! I told the Three Sisters I will pay the tuthe, I owning Faith God has a good plan for me! Welllllllll….
GOD HAS A GREAT PLAN – FOR MANY OF US!
The Bundle Baptism of Lazarus -is born!
At 7:42 AM, I asked this stupendous question…
Was Lazarus Baptized byJohn the Baptist? How about the ohter Discoples? Howabout……Mary Magdalene?
I am a great genealogists. I have studied Royal and Holy Trees. For $500 dollars I will Bundle your Dead People in a Holy Lazarus Baptism.
SEND ME YOUR TREES!
If you are rich, it will cost you $1000 for a BBL. You rich ones can send me what you will, just to make sure…..it takes! Here is my e-mail.
braskewitz@yahoo.com
In 1960 I did a painting of the end of the world. I was going to send it to the candidate that won the election that year – but it was not dry! I may have sent my letter I wrote. I had a copy, but it got lost. I had just turned fourteen.
The Pharisees Plot To Kill Jesus And Lazarus
One of the most well-known stories of the bible is about Lazarus, and his sisters, Mary and Martha. Today’s post examines a new twist in the story of Lazarus as the Pharisees seek not only to kill Jesus, but Lazarus too.
Continuing The Story Of Lazarus
The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead may be familiar to you. Maybe you know the story of Mary anointing the Lord’s feet with expensive perfume and wiping them with her hair. You may even have heard of Judas Iscariot’s reaction to such extravagance.
But what follows in John 12:9-11(ESV) is mind-boggling!
“Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.”
To say that power and position were important to the chief priests in the first century is most definitely an understatement. They plotted and schemed to silence Jesus, not because they denied He had performed miracle after miracle. Not because they were worried that He was leading the people astray. But because they feared for their own status.
Plotting To Kill
Plotting to kill Jesus in order to retain their social standing and power was bad enough, almost unbelievable, but as we read in today’s passage, they also plotted to kill Lazarus. Making plans to kill a man who had been raised from the dead . . . there’s something sadly ironic about that.
They saw him as part of the problem. His very existence threatened their position because he could give a firsthand account of what Jesus had done for him—and who Jesus was. The chief priests saw Lazarus as just one more inconvenience to get out of the way.
While I trust none of us have plotted to kill anyone, we may face what we perceive to be obstacles in a variety of unhealthy ways:
We do our best to ignore them. We may be happy with the status quo. We may feel just too overwhelmed or too tired to face the hurdles in our path, sticking our head in the proverbial sand, hoping they’ll just go away.
John 11 – Four Days in the Grave
Bethany Bible Church – June 24, 2018
During my study of John 11 this week, there were a few tidbits and issues that came up that I knew I wouldn’t be able to fully work out in the sermon (especially one as long as this sermon!). Strangely enough, each area that caught my attention centered around the same topic: Lazarus being in the grave for four days.
#1 – The significance of four days
Martha makes a big deal of Lazarus being in the grave for four days (11:39; cf. 11:17). She connects this with the odor that was likely to be associated with a corpse buried for that length of time.
But there may have been some added significance to the fourth day. Jewish tradition shortly after the time of Christ (which likely reflects beliefs during the time of Christ) teaches that the dead body is not truly and finally dead until the fourth day. In the Talmud (a source of Jewish tradition), it says, “The whole strength of the mourning is not till the third day; for three days long the soul returns to the grave, thinking that it will return (into the body); when however it sees that the color of its face has changed then it goes away and leaves it” (Gen. Rab. 100 [64a]; quoted in Beasley-Murray’s John, pg. 189-190).
In other words, the soul hovers around the body for three days after death, hoping for re-entrance. But once the body starts to decompose and the corpse changes color, the soul knows there is no going back and depart once and for all.
We must keep in mind that this is extra-biblical Jewish tradition. Scripture nowhere teaches this. But if it reflects the popular opinion or teaching of many Jews back then, it may give added significance to the emphasis on Lazarus being in the grave for four days.
To put it bluntly: the man was dead. There was no question about it. Had Jesus resurrected him on day two or three, it could have been cause for some to wonder whether it was merely a resuscitation of some sort instead of a true resurrection.
#2 – Where is Jesus’ Bethany?
There are two Bethany’s in John 11, though only one is mentioned by name. Mary, Martha and Lazarus live in Bethany that is about 2 miles from Jerusalem (11:18). The unmentioned Bethany is the one that is the topic of this question.
John 10:40-42 sees Jesus fleeing from Jerusalem and going “across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first” (ESV). Of course this leads us to ask, “Where was John baptizing at first?” Going back to John 1, we first see John baptizing “in Bethany across the Jordan” (1:28; later on John is found baptizing at Aenon near Salim – 3:23).
But just where is this Bethany?
The short answer is, we’re just not sure. But there are some educated guesses!
Many options have been suggested, but two tend to stand out among the opinions of scholars. D. A. Carson argues that John was referring to Batanea (Bashan in the OT), an area in the north-east, ruled by Herod’s relative Philip. John chooses to use the different spelling “Bethany” for Batanea in order to highlight the fact that Jesus began and ended His ministry in Bethany. Kostenberger, in his commentary on John, notes that this option is strengthened since 1:43 has Jesus leaving from Bethany to Galilee, which only takes a day. This would not be possible if John the Baptist’s Bethany was only 20 miles from Jerusalem (pg. 65; Galilee is up in the northern part of Israel).
If Carson/Kostenberger are correct, then Jesus had to travel almost 100 miles from Bethany/Batanea to Bethany near Jerusalem. Travelling at 20-30 miles/day, it would have taken about 4 days for Jesus and the disciples to reach their destination.
The other option is a place called “Bethabara,” which is located about 20 miles away from Jerusalem on the east of the Jordan. Origen was probably the first to argue for this, after travelling to the location and noting that there was no town called Bethany in that region. He suggested Bethabara as an alternate spelling, and many scholars picked this up (e.g., Merrill Tenney, Gary M. Burge, etc.).
In the end, it seems that Kostenberger’s reasoning should be favored, since it is difficult to argue how Jesus could have travelled 50+ miles in a single day if Bethany were located in the south-eastern part of Israel.
Because of the complicated nature of this issue and the uncertainty of the final answer, I thought it best to leave it to the discussion of the commentaries (and the blog!), not the sermon.
#3 – How do we count to four?
Sometimes John’s chronology is difficult to figure out. In John 11, by verse 39 we know Lazarus has been buried for four days. But how do we get to this number?
11:3 has a messenger telling Jesus that Lazarus “is ill.” Meaning, whenever the messenger was sent out, Lazarus was not dead, but dying.
11:6 has Jesus responding to this messenger by staying put for two more days.
11:11 takes place after these two days (cf. 11:7). Jesus says that Lazarus “has fallen asleep,” which indicates that Lazarus is at that time dead.
11:17 brings Jesus to the tomb where Lazarus has been buried for four days.
If Mary/Martha’s Bethany was only a day’s journey from Jesus’ Bethany (see Option #2 above), then this would necessitate that Lazarus died almost immediately after the messenger left to deliver the news of his illness (assuming Jesus didn’t take longer than a day to travel to Bethany). So the chronology would look like this:
Day 1 – Messenger sets out from Bethany; Lazarus dies as the messenger is on route (without the messenger knowing it) and is buried the same day.
Days 2-3 – Jesus hears the news and stays put two days (he could’ve also heard the news on Day 1, depending on when the messenger arrived).
Day 4 – Jesus travels to Bethany, finding Lazarus buried for four days.
(Keep in mind, Jewish reckoning usually counts a partial day as full.)
If Mary/Martha’s Bethany was four days’ journey from Jesus’ Bethany (see Option #1 above), then this would mean that Lazarus died right before Jesus set out to make the journey, not necessarily when the messenger gave the news. Jesus’ delay still did not cost Lazarus his life, since if He set out immediately, Lazarus still would’ve been dead and buried for two days.
It’s important to note that either scheme amounts to the same thing: Lazarus is in the tomb for four days when Jesus arrives. And either way, even if Jesus didn’t delay, Lazarus still would’ve been dead by the time Jesus reached Bethany.
Because neither of these chronological schemes made any real significance on the meaning and application of the text, I chose not to bog down the sermon and bring it up.
The post John 11 – Four Days in the Grave appeared first on Bethany Bible Church.
Where Art Thou?
On May 5, 2026, I John Presco, took a trip to see the new LDS Temple in Springfield Oregon. My journey began long ago, before I got sober, and Nancy got me on the bus with her good friend, Ken Kesey. If Timber Springs was open, I might have checked in to see the scene – inside of there! My distractors are of the opinion I need to be….
LOCKED UP!
Members of the Alley Gang suggested I need cinder blocks tied to my ankles, and..
DROPPED IN A DEEP PART OF THE MCKENZIE RIVER
Inside the temple I beheld the twelve oxen holding up a baptismal tank. I told two sister after the tour…..
“I’m going to join your church. I want to baptize my dead ancestors, especially the Stumeisters who was the main topic in the family photographs taken in Twin Pikes Park in Belmont California. I suspect members of the Belmont Historical Society….
WANT ME LOCKED UP IN THEIR LOCAL BOOBYHATCH!
After my tour, I was told I get to ask questions – outside! I told two sisters my genalogical research – has born fruit!
“Thanks to a LDS researcher, I mayhave found who my ancestors are, not by an hour, while I was at Riverbend. giving blood, and signing my name on a electronic pad!”
To be continued
EXTRA! OMM! (Oh my Maroni) At 9.32 AM I Googled Maroni! No wonder I get these wonderful smiles. He looks like me! Is he the angel my sisters saw at the foot of their bed. Kay saw it, too.
“The Angel Moroni’s First Visit” by Linda Curley Christensen. In addition to appearing in the Church News, this painting was one of four paintings displayed in the Sacred Grove Welcome Center, as of 2021.
Rosamond Press 
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