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1 Cor. 15:20 vs John 11

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EKnight:
I have been falling away from my studies so I decided to start where I first began this journey with Lazarus and the Rich man parable.  As always, reading leads to more reading and then questions.  Ugh!!!

Here is my stumbling block of the day:

1 Cor. 15:20 "Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead, the firstfruit of those who are reposing."

Miriam-Webster definition of repose;

1a. to lie at rest. b. to lie dead. c. to remain still or concealed.

2. to take a rest.

3. archaic: rely

4. to rest for support: lie

Now John 11: 11-14

11These things he said, and after this he saith to them, `Lazarus our friend hath fallen asleep, but I go on that I may awake him;'

 12therefore said his disciples, `Sir, if he hath fallen asleep, he will be saved;'

 13but Jesus had spoken about his death, but they thought that about the repose of sleep he speaketh.

 14Then, therefore, Jesus said to them freely, `Lazarus hath died;

And John 11: 39-44

39Jesus saith, `Take ye away the stone;' the sister of him who hath died -- Martha -- saith to him, `Sir, already he stinketh, for he is four days dead;'

 40Jesus saith to her, `Said I not to thee, that if thou mayest believe, thou shalt see the glory of God?'

 41They took away, therefore, the stone where the dead was laid, and Jesus lifted his eyes upwards, and said, `Father, I thank Thee, that Thou didst hear me;

 42and I knew that Thou always dost hear me, but, because of the multitude that is standing by, I said [it], that they may believe that Thou didst send me.'

 43And these things saying, with a loud voice he cried out, `Lazarus, come forth;'

 44and he who died came forth, being bound feet and hands with grave-clothes, and his visage with a napkin was bound about; Jesus saith to them, `Loose him, and suffer to go.'

Now then, how could Christ be the firstfruit of them that slept when clearly Lazarus was among the dead and was brought back by Christ Himself?

And secondly, does repose mean dead or asleep/at rest?  The word repose is used in the same sentence as dead but I thought death was "like" sleep so how then can the two words be used in the same sentence in regard to Lazarus?

I hope I explained my confusion coherently.  And as a side note, I know that this Lazarus is not the same as the Lazarus in the Rich man parable and it's just a coincidence that that's what I was reading at the time confusion set in. :)

Eileen

Samson:
Hi Eileen,

             Don't forget, There were several Resurrections performed by Jesus and some of the Apostles. Of these individuals eventually died, a second time. They were only Resurrected back as Fleshly Human Beings. Here's a list of some of them: 1) The Widow of Nain's Son. 2) The Army Officer Jairus- Daughter. 3) Eutychus(The guy who fell out the window listening to Paul). 4) Lazarus(You already know about). 5) The Saints that were raised from the Tomb so all could see when Jesus was on the Cross. I probably forgot some that were given a Ressurection, some in the Old Testament Times, MAYBE- Elisha. I'm sure someone can update this list.

                                   Kind Regards, Samson.

gmik:
Eileen, I am reading you a lot tonite...you are on my heart.... funny thing tho, Lazarus was the 1st thing I read on BT that completely blew me away and changed my life!!! (but I haven't read it since!) ??? :P

EKnight:
Oh Yes Mark!!! How could I have forgotten??!!!!  I have read more than once that Christ being the firstfruit meaning conversion of the Spirit and that those who were resurrected from the dead were only made alive in the flesh.  How foolish I feel  :-[ :-[


--- Quote ---I do not see death used as a definition here.
--- End quote ---

But regarding the definition, 1 Cor. 15:20  " Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead, the firstfruit of those who are reposing.

It just looks to me that the above scripture defines dead as reposing within the sentence itself. We know that Christ actually died so therefore reposing must mean dead. No?  Otherwise Christ was only the firstfruit of those "resting" according to strongs definition.  Right?

I hope this came out right, I was interrupted while trying to convey all this.

Eileen

Marky Mark:
Hi Eileen.

  Looking back through different translations of 1 Cor. 15:20 the word sleep or slept is used more often than the word repose.From the Strong's definition I would have to think that he was trying to convey to take a rest or to refresh,but since the word seems to reflect more of a sleep as shown in Scripture,and sleep means death ,then I would have to say that repose can and does mean death as described in the bible.

Also from Rays paper.  AN ENCOURAGING THOUGHT ABOUT DEATH


http://bible-truths.com/death.htm

DEATH IS SLEEP

I was tempted to make that caption: DEATH IS LIKE SLEEP, but that would be Scripturally inaccurate, as nowhere do the Scriptures state that death is "like" sleep, but rather that death IS SLEEP. God prepared Moses for death with the following:

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, you shall sleep [Heb: shakab—to lie down, to rest, to sleep, to decease] with your fathers…" (Deut. 31:16).

David said:

"Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death" (Psalm 13:3).

When Lazarus was dead (John 11:14), Jesus said:

"Our friend Lazarus sleeps: but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep" (John 11:11).



Thanks for the inquiry,helped me also. :)

Peace...Mark

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