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Zoe

Submitted by jesuslover on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 05:40.
Zoe
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  • Experiencing the Reality of Resurrection
  • Or....How to make Jesus weep
  • The Story
    • Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."
  • Waiting
    • When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
    • Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
  • Perfect Timing
    • Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."
  • The Characters
    • Thomas
    • The realist
    • Mary
    • The emotional one
    • Martha
    • The legalist
    • The Crowds
    • The critics
  • Thomas
    • "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?"
    • Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
  • Martha
    • When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
    • "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "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 said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
    • Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes into Me will live even if he dies,
    • and everyone who lives and believes into Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
    • She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."
    • When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."
  • Martha
    • Living in the past
    • ....if you had been here!
    • Trapped in her dogma
    • I have believed you are the Christ, the Son of God...
    • Waiting for the future
    • ....he will rise again, in the last day
  • Mary
    • Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
    • Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
  • Jesus
  • I AM
    • I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
    • I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE ZOE
    • ZOE
    • Life in action
    • Life flowing
    • Life moving
    • Life operating
    • Life NOW, in YOUR SPIRIT, in YOUR SITUATION
    • Zoe is the Present Christ
    • Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the zoe. He who believes into Me, though he may die, he shall be zoe-fied."
  • INTO
    • "He who believes INTO me"
    • No just believe in me or on me (objective fact of Jesus and His resurrection)
    • But entering into who He is right now, as the life-giving One (subjective experience)
    • "He who believes, has dynamic faith that leads one's entire being into an organic and vital union with Me"
  • The Crowds
    • So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"
    • But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
    • So Jesus, again being deeply moved within with indignation, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
  • The Stone
    • Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
    • Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
    • So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
    • "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
    • When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."
  • Zoe!
    • The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth.
    • Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
  • Two Sides to Experience Zoe
    • What Jesus does:
    • "Lazarus, come forth!"
    • What we must do:
    • "Remove the stone!"
    • Open your stony heart to the Lord's living zoe imparting Spirit
    • Open to the Lord in your situation, in your failure, in your success, in your apathy---yes, it might stink
    • "Unbind him, and let him go!"
    • Be freed from your guilt, your past, your anxiety of the future, your fantasy, your grudges, your depression, your dogma, your religion....
    • Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes into Me, though he may die, he shall live."
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