Near Death Experiences

To continue this discussion about the human soul surviving after the final death of the body I'd like to quote from a blog I wrote back around Christmas time, 2010. 

I've often shared what Alice, a delightful elderly lady of our parish, told me. She said that she had died during an operation on her body. She recalled leaving her body and rising above it to look down at the doctors and nurses desperately trying to revive her. Then in a blinding flash she found herself amidst her people, her parents, husband, aunts and uncles who had all gone before her. They welcomed her with laughter and delight and she was filled with joy. But then she heard a Voice tell her she must return. In a moment, Alice said, she was back in that hospital operating room, looking down at her body. And in the next moment she was awake. After that experience, she said she looked forward to death (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). 

Alice was quite reluctant to tell her story. She assumed that many would consider her a nut case for telling such a wild tale. I assured her I did not. Perhaps you will not either, because hundreds have told similar stories. There is even a Near Death Experience Foundation, although I would caution everyone not to base their hopes of life after death and the resurrection upon human science and human accounts (1 Corinthians 15:1-19).

 In his book, Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death,  Dr. Sam Parnia tells about his study of such near death experiences (NDE). He concludes, 

Today, the tantalizing question for science is, If the human consciousness or soul does indeed continue to exist well past the traditional marker that defines death, does it really ever die as an entity? Our new studies will continue to explore this and other significant ethical questions. For now, though, we can be certain that we humans no longer need to fear death. 

I do not know if Dr. Parnia is a Christian. His focus is upon human science.  He suggests that our soul "does indeed continue to exist well past the traditional marker that defines death." We Christians have long known that. Our faith is based upon solid evidence, often overlooked by the world. We always look to the fact of Christ's resurrection, a fact never disproved. Listen to the Apostle Paul—

• Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? - 1 Cor 15:1-12 ESV
• Paul himself, pronounced dead after being stoned to death at Lystra (Acts 14:19-20), speaks about his own near death experience: "I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses-- though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. - 2 Cor 12:1-6 ESV

The Bible writers witness to God's grace in Jesus Christ and to the glory that awaits those who put their trust in him. What about those souls who have turned their backs upon him and the cross? What happens to them after death? Is there such a thing as hell, darkness, eternal fire and suffering, as Jesus himself said?

And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.' - Mar 9:47-48 ESV (cf. Matt. 18:8-9)

More about that in my next blog about the survival of the soul after death.

The Re-discovery Of The Soul

A few days ago I began to read a brand new medical science study about death called Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death by Dr. Sam Parnia and Josh Young (February, 2013). They tell us some very interesting things about changing views of physical death . . . and human life. For instance, up to this point many scientists have concluded that human consciousness, the mind, subjective experience, the person or simply the soul, arises from the activity of the brain. However, all the brain-based theories "do not answer the fundamental question of how thoughts and consciousness or human experience may arise from the activity of neurons."

The authors go on to make a most important point about how thoughts, feelings, emotions and what makes us into who we are arises.

This limitation of all the theories has led to the suggestion that human consciousness or the soul may in fact be an irreducible scientific entity in its own right, similar to many of the concepts in physics such as mass and gravity, which are also irreducible entities. —Kindle location 2785 

They go on to speak about the views of Nobel Prize winner Sir John Eccles, considered by many to be one of the greatest neuroscientists in the world.  The whole of Eccles' philosophical thought has been brought together in a book entitled Facing Reality published by Springer in the Heidelberg Science Library (1970).

Eccles' "view was that the mind, consciousness, or soul itself played an active role in selecting and integrating brain cell activity and molded it into a unified whole. . . He thought of the brain as an "instrument that provides the conscious self or person with the lines of communication from and to the external world" and that "does this by receiving information through the immense sensory system of the millions of nerve fibre that fire impulses to the brain, where it is processed into coded patterns of information that we read out from moment to moment in deriving all our experiences—or perceptions, thoughts, ideas and memories. . . 

Therefore, in (Eccles') view, the brain is an instrument that relays information to and from both the internal and external worlds, but consciousness  or the soul is a separate and subtle scientific entity that interacts directly with it. Furthermore, as the human soul or consciousness is a separate yet entirely real entity that determines the true reality of a person, it continues to exist after death. Therefore, when one dies, one is left with the same level of knowledge, understanding and perception as on earth. This is why people with actual-death or near-death experiences may interpret what they see based on their own level of education and thought. Thus, the level of perception of reality that exists after death is directly proportional to that acquired on earth. —Kindle location 2811-12

The authors describe how modern medical  technology is able to restore human life many hours after brain and heart activity has ceased. These new discoveries suggest that medical doctors must be very cautious about declaring a person dead ! This information also has some far reaching implications for the so-called harvesting of organs from people who have died.

If this question interests you as much as it does me, I can only urge you to read the book. In my next posts I will explore further what the Bible says about the soul and suggest that theologians and medical scientists must carry on with an even more extensive dialog about human existence as both body and soul.

Christian Ethical Issues with Cloning

We're discussing cloning. The word clone comes from a Greek word meaning twig. My primary concern is with embryonic cloning procedures, especially the ethics of human cloning. To review, there are basically three types of cloning procedures.

Cloning Laboratory Procedures (from The Ethics of Human Cloning)

• Molecular cloning - DNA fragments containing genes are copied and amplified in a host cell, usually a bacterium. This has led to the production of many important medicines. 
• Cellular cloning - a cell line identical to the original is grown in a culture. Useful in testing and sometimes the production of medicines, such as insulin and tPA. 
• Embryo cloning - three categories
• blastomere division - able to produce a new individual organism. Used in livestock breeding
• blastocyst division (twining) - a sexually formed embryo is split into two identical halves. 
• nuclear transplantation—from each blastomere or embryo into the cytoplasm of an egg whose genetic material has been removed (enucleated). This process is used both for the therapeutic cloning of pluripotent stem cells and the potential cloning of human beings. 

There are many legal and political issues surrounding cloning. I do not intend to discuss them. For instance, Federal Law states that any clinic using assisted reproduction techniques must be monitored. And there are regulations on the number of manipulations that may be made to eggs or embryos. My focus is upon the religious issues, specifically the ethical issues that arise from Biblical teachings. These considerations apply specifically to Christians and will be used by them as they make decisions in their callings as parents, teachers, citizens, lawyers, political leaders, medical practitioners and scientists.

Christian Ethical Issues

1. Obtaining pluripotent stem cells from human embryos - remains the biggest problem for us Christians who believe that human life begins with conception (see Human Life Begins With Conception). We recognize human life to be human life (Gen. 9:6; Psalm 139:15-16), regardless of the stage of development. This is why we strenuously object to any attempts to manipulate and destroy such life. 
2. Induced pluripotent stem cells research is an exciting new development. iPSCs, as they are called, are derived from adult somatic cells that, through genetic manipulation, have been reprogrammed to resemble embryonic pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells have the unique property of unlimited proliferation in the undifferentiated state while retaining the ability to differentiate into terminal cell types, including neurons, when cultured appropriately. iPSCs hold enormous potential for studying human development and disease, creating new systems to identify promising drugs, and generating customized replacement cells that can be used as therapies directly. And they circumvent the ethical issues arising from embryonic sources of pluripotent stem cells
3. We humans were designed by our Creator to be in a family (Gen. 2:18-25; 4:1; Eph. 3:14-21). We are not merely highly evolved animals to be manipulated and manufactured. We are created to be the result of the union of a loving father and mother, joined and blessed by our Creator. We were never created merely to be the union of a sperm and an egg or a nucleus implanted into an enucleated egg. We are created to be a part of a family. And our Creator intends for that family to be the protective and stable milieu into which children are born and in which they are nurtured, taught and brought to maturity.  
4. Some may in fact clone a human one day. As stated in my previous blog, the science is available. Should that happen, how will we deal with that life—that person? It is not a question of whether he/she has a soul, as the Schwarzenegger character asks in The 6th Day movie. Man does not have a soul. He is a soul. What distinguishes man from the other creatures that have life is the image and breath (neshamah -Hebrew) of God (Genesis 1:27; 2:7; 5:1; 9:6). He is the highest of God's creatures, created to be in fellowship with God and made to rule over all the rest of the living creatures. We can only assume that even under the inhumane practices of manipulating God's creation to our own ends and ignoring His plan for human life, He may bring forth human life. And so we must treat that human with the same dignity and love as any other human. He/she is not simply another Dolly the sheep! 

We who live together on this earth are called by our Creator to be fruitful and multiply. It is in our DNA. But as we do so, we must be very careful to join our LORD and Savior to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

You Can Kill My Body, But You Can't Kill Me!

Today we are taking a further look at how the Bible describes a human being. So far we have looked at the Hebrew O.T. and the Greek translation of the O.T., the Septuagint (LXX). Now we move directly into the New Testament, using both the original Greek and the English translations.

Soul (psyche) and Spirit (pneuma) in the New Testament


Everything noted about the Hebrew word nephesh may generally be applied to the Greek psyche in the N.T. This is a man's life, living, thinking and acting. For instance, Jesus says,

"Whoever would save his life (psyche) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (psyche) for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul (psyche, so could be translated life)? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul (psyche)? - Matthew 16:25

"Whoever finds his life (psyche) will lose it, and whoever loses his life (psyche) for my sake will find it." - Matthew 10:39

In both instances Jesus is emphasizing that a man must decide to put his life in Jesus' hands. He is the Savior and Lord of all. To commit your life to anyone or anything else is to lose it. Earlier in Matthew 10:28 Jesus says,

"And do not fear those who will kill the body (soma) but cannot kill the soul (psyche). Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (gehenna)."

This is a very revealing passage. Obviously a man is able to kill the body of another man. The Greek word for kill is apokteino. So the tenants in Jesus' parable killed the son, hoping to gain his inheritance (Matthew 21:33-41). By this story Jesus predicted the Jewish leaders would kill Him. And so they did, by turning Him over to Pilate to be crucified. Jesus died, he ceased to breathe. Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus' body in his own new tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). Just before He died Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded or gave up His spirit (pneuma) into the hands of His heavenly Father  (Matthew 27:50, John 19:30, Luke 23:46). The man Jesus did not cease to exist, however. They could kill His  body, but they could not kill His soul or life (psyche).

What does this mean for us believers? It means exactly what Jesus said. Men cannot kill us. They can only kill the bodily side of who we are. So when Stephen was stoned he taught us how to pray in the face of the death of our bodies. He prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (pneuma)." - Acts 7:59. Death for the believer has lost its sting, its power, as also the Apostle Paul taught us when he wrote, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (I Corinthians 15:55, cf. Hosea 13:14).

When Jesus raised the child of the ruler from death, Luke writes that her spirit (pneuma) returned (to her body). Those attending her knew she was dead. Jesus, however, said, "She is not dead, but sleeping" (Luke 8:52-55). Thus Jesus comforts us by reminding us that death is but a sleep and that on the last day He will restore us to full and complete life as He returns our spirits to a renewed and eternal bodily existence in the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Returning to the Matthew 10:28 passage about not being able to kill the soul, note that Jesus says that God can destroy (appolimi) both body and soul in hell. On the final Day Jesus will raise all to bodily life (Matthew 25:31-46). However, the unbeliever will face a bodily existence in hell, alone, separated from the joy of life in the presence of God, lost in pain, suffering, sorrow and grief (cf. the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Hades, Luke 16:19-31; 2 Thessalonians. 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15).

To find life (psyche) is to lose one's life for the sake of Jesus. This life begins when the Holy Spirit (Hagios Pneuma) grants us new birth and gives us new life (John 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:3). Full and complete life is always the life of body, mind and spirit in full communion with one's Creator. Jesus came to give us this life (Greek zoe) and give it abundantly (John 5:21-24; 6:27-63; 10:10, etc.). Believers will share in this life in the new heavens and earth (Romans 8:11-23). More on this next time.

Man—A Bodied Spirit

The writings of Ray Kurzweil got me started into re-examining what the Bible has to say about mankind, that is Biblical anthropology. Of course I'm not about to tackle everything there is to say. Instead I continue to focus upon the issue of the soul and the body. Some like to suggest that the soul is immaterial—whatever that means—and the body is material. I want to point out that the Scriptures never approach man in those categories. The issue of matter vs. non-matter, etc. comes along a couple thousand years after the Bible was written.

Last time I addressed the matter of soul/body I pointed out that the Hebrew has three words to describe a living human being: Nephesh, Ruach, and Nashamah. English translators have used the words creature, life, soul, person, mind, heart, appetite and body to tell us what the Hebrew writers meant by Nephesh. In other words the word describes a living human person from the outside in or the inside out, depending on the context. He is alive because God has breathed into him the breath of life. There is never a separation of the body from the soul, as if they are two entities. A man is a whole, a unity. He is Nephesh. 

Ruach, on the other hand, is never translated as body or life. The word stands for what we call wind, breath or spirit. It is what man has when he is alive. He breathes the wind. God is Ruach and He breathes life into man, as well as the other creatures. Further, when the LORD wants to reveal Himself, He sends His Ruach upon a prophet. So even Saul, Israel's first king, temporarily received the Ruach of God and prophesied (1 Samuel 10:6-12). Ruach describes man's inner life. From the inside out he is spirit. Because he is spirit, he is capable of communicating with God, the almighty and eternal Ruach.  So Pharaoh's spirit (Ruach) was troubled by his dreams (Genesis 41:8). That's why he called for his wise men to tell him what he had dreamed and what those inner events meant. Animals also are Nephesh, but they never have God's Ruach poured out upon them. 

Nashamah is similar to Ruach. The word describes what a living man does, he breathes, he has breath. It is what the Almighty gives to animate a man.

The Old Testament was translated, as you know, into Greek. sometime between 300 and 100 years before Christ. It was necessary because many Jews were scattered in the Greek speaking world and could no longer understand the O.T. Hebrew. The Septuagint (LXX), as this translation was known, was the preferred Bible of the New Testament writers.

The LXX translates Nephesh with the Greek Psyche. So if you want to speak in English about a living human being, you might use the word soul. In that sense, animals are souls as well as humans (Genesis 1:20,24,30). You might say that the soul (Nephesh or Psyche) is the life of a person or animal. A soul is nothing more than a whole person. It can even refer to a dead person or body from which the life has gone (Numbers 6:6; Haggai 2:13).

Man as Nephesh or Psyche, has an inner life. He becomes sad, grieved, happy, troubled. He hates and loves. When looked at from within, a man longs for God's presence in his life. He needs God (Psalm 42:1; 63:1; 84:2, etc.). Thus a man seen from the inside out has needs, desires, feelings. He thinks, remembers, makes moral decisions and has consciousness. This soul does not exist without a body. The blood coursing through the person's vein carries his life (Nephesh or Psyche)—Deuteronomy 12:23.

When the LXX translated Ruach it used the Greek Pneuma. Once again, the Pneuma is a human viewed from the inside. In English we find the word spirit. It is in his Pneuma also that a person searches for communion with God (Isaiah 26:9).

OK. What do we have so far?

• Man does not have two separate entities, soul and body
• Man does not have something that is eternal, a soul that comes to occupy a body and departs when the body dies. Man's soul certainly does not migrate from some lower form of bodily life to something higher, as suggested by Hindu teaching. 
• Rather man is a created being, given life by God. He is completely dependent upon God for his life.
• This man, is the highest of all God's created beings. He bears God's Image and is intended by His Creator to be in communion with Him. When man disobeys his Creator and breaks the communion, when he worships other gods, he dies.
• Man may be viewed from the outside in or from the inside out. He has a bodily existence and an inner life or spiritual existence. However, the two sides of his life are integrated and inseparable. He is a whole person, a unity. 
• When his breath, his life, leaves he continues to exist, but in a weakened condition. He was not created to die. He was created to live and breathe the breath or life God grants. And to live means that he must be a body, a child of Adam who was made from the dust of the earth. Man is created to be a bodied spirit if you will. 

Next time I shall take these concepts along with us as we move into the writings of the New Testament where the Greek words for body (Sarx and Soma) and soul (Psyche) and spirit (Pneuma) are used in ways that reflect their true source, the LXX or Greek Old Testament. Stay tuned. 

Do We Humans Really Have A Soul As Well As A Body?

Some years back I attended a lecture given to a gathering of mental therapists by a prominent neurologist from California. In his lecture he emphasized that all mental illnesses are a result of chemical disruptions in our neural systems. From his viewpoint there is no such thing as a soul. About the same time as that lecture Nancey Murphy served as one of the editors of the book  Whatever Happened to the Soul? In the book Murphy defends what she calls "nonreductive physicalism." She rejects any kind of nonmaterial entity such as mind or soul. The seat of consciousness and all mental activities is the human neural system. We are aware of what's going on and of what is happening only and always because of our chemistry and our nerves. That position agrees with what I heard from the Californian neurologist. As a believer in Christ Murphy believes humans are also creatures made by God and that God will resurrect them in the coming age. However, she believes that human identity is totally bodily identity. We are bodies—nothing more and nothing less. Human life has no existence independent of the body.

In previous blogs I wrote about Kevin Kelly and Ray Kurzweil. For them the day is coming in about 35 years when human identity will be completely identified with computer software. They call this day the Singularity, a day comparable to the beginning of the universe itself. Kurzweil coined this use of the term in his 1995 book, The Singularity is Near. In other words, though our bodies (hardware) may be destroyed, our consciousness, our minds will continue to reside and exist in the realm of mathematical abstraction (software). Thus humans will transcend, go beyond what is called human existence today. They will be immune to destruction. By means of that same computer software humans will be able to reconstruct bodies in any manner they choose. In what Kelly calls the technium, humans will exist, but in a radically new and unimaginable manner. Kurzweil wrote about this in The Age of Spiritual Machines, published a year after Murphey's book.

Let's take a look at this issue. Does the soul exist? Are we both spirit and body? Are we humans composed of two parts, a material body and a nonmaterial soul? To answer those questions I turn to the Scriptures, the Bible and the revelation given to us by our Creator himself. By the way, if you'd like to read a rejection of the positions of Murphy, Kurzweil, Kelly and others by a Christian scientist and philosopher read William Demski's article Are We Spiritual Machines?

Turn with me to the Scriptures. To begin with we will study the Hebrew Old Testament. On another day we'll go to the New Testament to see how all the promises about man are to be fulfilled in Christ.

The Hebrew which has three words relating to this issue: Nephesh, Ruach  Neshamah.


The KJV translates Nephesh with a wide variety of English words. Other translations will vary in the translations into English. For now I stay with the KJV to illustrate:

• Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 2:19 - creature
• Genesis 1:30 - life
• Genesis 2:7; Joshua 10:35 - soul
• Genesis 14:21 - persons
• Genesis 23:8 - mind - dead
• Exodus 4:19 - life
• Exodus 15:9 - lust
• Exodus 23:9 - heart
• Leviticus 11:10, 46 - living thing or creature
• Leviticus 21:11 - body
• Leviticus 22:4,11 - dead body
• Ecclesiastes 6:7 - appetite
• Isaiah 19:10 - fish (even fish are alive)

Ruach also has a variety of translations.

• Genesis 1:2 - Spirit (of God)
• Genesis 3:8 - cool (of the day)
• Genesis 6:17 - breath (of life)
• Genesis 8:1 - wind
• Genesis 26:35 - mind
• Genesis 41:8 - spirit (of Pharaoh)
• Isaiah 25:4 - blast
• Ezekiel 37:8 - breath
• Ezekiel 42:16-19 - side

Neshamah is translated with several words as well:

• Genesis 2:7 - breath (of life)
• Job 33:4 - breath (of the Almighty)
• Joshua 11:11 - (any left to) breathe
• 2 Samuel 22:16 - blast (of God's breath - Ruach)
• Job 26:4 - spirit

What shall we make of all this? Notice that we find no carefully outlined definition of man as body and soul. In the Hebrew view man is flesh like all other kinds of creatures given life by God's breath (Ruach). Nephesh is not a part of man. No, Nephesh is man, man with life, alive as are all creatures of God. Man as a living creature of God is a person, an individual. What distinguishes him from the other creatures that have breath and life is the image of God (Genesis 1:27; 5:1; 9:6). He is the highest of God's creatures, made to be in fellowship with God, made to rule over all the rest of the living creatures. He is, however, a creature, made from the matter, the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). 

This person has appetites and desires, emotions and thoughts. Since Nephesh is man's life, it departs at death (Genesis 35:18) or returns if a person revives (1 Kings 17:22). After death the Old Testament does not see souls in the underworld as did the Greeks. Rather the O.T. sees shades (rephaim), a weak, pale replica of man from whom breath has gone (Proverbs 9:18; Isaiah 14:9-10) confined to the pit called Sheol. To be fully human again that shade must be given bodily life. His body must be restored and he must again begin to breathe, eat, drink, laugh and rejoice in God's presence (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

Will this happen? Will complete and full life be restored? Yes indeed. The Psalmists rejoice that the fellowship with God enjoyed while yet breathing will continue even beyond death. God will not abandon His child, but show him the path of life and eternal pleasures (Psalm 16:10-11). He will ransom the believer from the power of Sheol and receive him into glory (Psalm 49:15; 73:24).

Thus the Hebrew man is not a combination of a material body and a non-material soul. He is rather a whole, unified creature of God, made in God's image. He is not divided. He is a unity. In that sense the Hebrew man is close to what Murphy wrote about in the book quoted above. What must be emphasized, however, is that this man continues to exist after death, albeit in a weakened form. And he is always before God and answerable to Him even in the pit of Sheol. 

Whether alive or dead then we who trust in the Lord and all His promises are His and with the dead we await His promise of  a resurrected body in the renewal of all things created. But more of this the next time as we look at the New Testament and the fulfillment of all God's promises in Christ. 

Melvyn IS a Soul

Last evening I returned home from attending my cousin Melvyn's funeral. During the time of visiting  I heard one after the other comment about the body we looked upon in the casket. They said, "This is not Melvyn," or "This is not how I want to remember him," or "He certainly was not that thin," etc. 


At another time, perhaps, I'll comment upon our custom of trying to preserve the body with chemicals. For now I'd like to meditate a bit upon a saying by C.S. Lewis—"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." 


At the funeral service we all celebrated the fact that Melvyn continues to be alive. Even after his body ceased to function—what we call death—Melvyn continues to live. This is an inference people make even if they know nothing about such Scriptures as the following. 


At the funeral of Jesus' close friend, Lazarus, we hear Martha say, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."


Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 


Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 


And then Jesus said something so profound and wondrous I cannot even begin to probe its meaning. He said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:21-26). 


Jesus speaks to Martha as if Lazarus were present, but unable to rise. Martha was certain that Lazarus' body had already begun to decay since it was not preserved by any chemicals, but merely wrapped with cloths and placed in a cave cut into the side of the rock. Once I visited that cave at Bethany, some miles from Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Martha spoke of Lazarus as still existing and was confident he would somehow be raised "in the resurrection at the last day." He would have a restored or renewed body. 


All that makes perfect sense to most of us. We know that at a funeral we are dealing with mysteries beyond us. We also know that when we fall asleep we are not aware of the passing of time. We are aware of our abilities to imagine and create images "in our mind". Photos of Melvyn prepared by his son Richey and projected on the screen brought us back to those times when Melvyn lived among us and spoke to us. We remembered how he enjoyed a good laugh. We have memories, but we do not really know what memories are. 


These and many other things remind us that we "are a soul" and we "have a body." For the moment Melvyn's body is no longer occupied by him. It served its purpose, but now will decay in spite of the chemicals and return to dust. Yet Melvyn is with Jesus in glory and bliss. On the last day Melvyn will receive and will occupy a new body, a glorified body, without the burden of sin, a body filled with the Spirit of Jesus. In that day we, his family in Christ, will see and know him for what and who he is. 


In our terms, controlled as it seems by the passing of time, it may be many years before that happens. I don't know when that will be. I await that Day with eager anticipation. For now I am content that Melvyn, who is a soul, believes in Jesus, is with Him in paradise and is not dead.