Are the Dead REALLY DEAD?

Nevertheless, their appearance with Yeshua did make an impact on the disciples as indicated by their question about building tabernacles.  This is significant because it shows that the three of them (Moses, Elijah, and The King) together in one place signified the return of the Kingdom of God, which is what Yeshua mentioned earlier –

^ESV Matthew 16:28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

Since the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot or Booths) is a representation of the Kingdom of God, the disciples felt compelled to build one for each of them. 

So why did the disciples connect the three of them the Kingdom of God?  Because if first century Jewish culture, the Kingdom begins with a wedding – the wedding of the Messiah to Israel, and both Moses and Elijah play a part in it.

We know that YHVH betrothed Himself to Israel on Mount Sinai, but in Hebrew thought, the marriage is not complete until the union is consummated, which again in Hebrew thought, takes place just prior to the Marriage Supper.  In the betrothal process, it was Moses who brought the bride to YHVH, and it is Elijah who announces the arrival of the bridegroom.  Thus Moses is the ‘friend of the bride’ and Elijah is ‘the friend of the bridegroom’.  This is alluded to in John the Baptist’s discussion with his own disciples. –

^ESV John 3:27-30  John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.  ²⁸ You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.'  ²⁹ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.  ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease."

So one of the purposes of the transfiguration was to give the disciples a glimpse of the Kingdom of God, but there was another reason that is even more important.

In Luke’s account, he shows that it was eight days after Yeshua told them that some would see the Kingdom of God.  Eight is a significant number because it pictures a ‘new beginning’.  Though that is a study in itself, suffice it to say that there are seven days in the weekly cycle, and the 1^st day could also be considered the 8^th day, and as the 8^th day begins a new cycle, it is a ‘new beginning’. 

Previous to the transfiguration, Yeshua had begun to prepare His disciples for his upcoming crucifixion.  To the disciples, the death of their leader – the man they had concluded would be Israel’s King and would drive out the Romans - would mean certain death for them as well.  So Yeshua showed them – via the transfiguration – that the Kingdom would be restored and that Yeshua himself would be the King.  He showed them Himself with Moses and Elijah discussing Yeshua’s imminent death3 as if they knew about it all along (which they certainly did4). They needed to understand that this was part of the plan, because if they were to lose heart, Yeshua’s ‘kingdom message’ would not get out.   Yeshua wanted them to see this picture of the kingdom to assure them that the message they were commissioned to spread would indeed come to pass – and that He would be at its helm. 

 So - did they actually see Moses and Elijah?  No.  What they saw was a vision –

^NKJ Matthew 17:9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."

But what about Luke’s account?  It seems to indicate they were “fully awake” (NKJ) while at the same time they were “heavy with sleep”.

^NKJ Luke 9:32 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.

In the above passage, the phrase “fully awake” is from the Greek word ‘diagregoreo’ (1235) which has as its primary meaning “to watch through”.  It is only used once in scripture, so we must go to its root for more understanding.  The word is composed of two root words – ‘dia’ (1223), which is a preposition that means “by” and ‘gregoreuo’ (1127) which means “watching”.  In other words “they were heavy with sleep by watching”.  So what were they watching?  They were supposed to be guarding Yeshua while He prayed –

^NKJ Luke 9:28-29  Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  ²⁹ As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.

Apparently His prayer went long as they sometimes do (Luke 6:12), and they fell asleep.  This same thing happened just a few weeks later while the same three disciples were again supposed to be watching.

^NKJ Matthew 26:36-38  Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  ³⁷ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  ³⁸ Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."

As we know, they were unable to stay awake –

^NKJ Matthew 26:40  Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?

But Yeshua was not through praying, so He went back to his prayer, and when He was finished, He again found them in deep sleep.

^NKJ Matthew 26:43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

This is much the same wording as we see in Luke’s account of the transfiguration where as He was praying his face began to shine and the disciples saw Moses and Elijah while they were sleeping.  In other words, they were dreaming, or as it says in Matthew, they had a vision.

Though Matthew and Mark leave out the significant detail in regards to the prayer, when you read all three accounts, you find the truth.

God of the Dead (Matt. 22:31)

This story began as an attempt to trap Yeshua in regards to the resurrection of the dead.  The Sadducees, a sect of Judaism that did not believe in the resurrection, presented a scenario that was based on the laws of levirate marriage.  In the scenario, a woman has a husband who dies, and she remarries.  That husband also dies and such is the case for the next five husbands. Eventually she dies.  Their question to Him was “whose wife will she be in the resurrection?”.  Yeshua did not give them an answer, but responded with a statement that they lead people astray because they don’t know the scriptures.  Not only did they not believe in a resurrection, they also did not believe in angels or spirits.

Yeshua then went on to say –

^NKJ Matthew 22:31-32 "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,  'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

So what did Yeshua just say?  He was basically stating that if Abraham died without receiving the promises God had made, and if there is no resurrection, then what good were the promises?  It is another way of saying that if there is no resurrection, what good is it to claim ancestry from Abraham? 

Yeshua was not saying that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still alive..  That would have defeated His point – if they were still alive, what need would there be for a resurrection?

It is clear that Yeshua knew that the resurrection was in the future. In regards to the resurrection He said –

^NKJ John 5:28-29   "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice  ²⁹ "and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

To Yeshua, the resurrection is in the future.  Paul confirms this by showing that the resurrection is hoped for, but has yet to take place -

Acts 23:6-8  But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!"  ⁷ And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided.  ⁸ For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection -- and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.

And it was because this was the way that Yeshua believe that the Pharisees were ecstatic with Yeshua’s reply to the Sadducees. Even though they often disagreed with Yeshua, they were glad to see Him put the Sadducees in their place.

Lazarus and Rich Man  (Luke 16:19)

For many who believe in an immortal soul , the story of ‘Lazarus and the Rich Man’ (as it is often called) is considered a “home run”.  Since Yeshua stated that it happened, it has to be true.  Case closed!

But was Lazarus a real person?  Was Yeshua relating a true story?  If He did, then the case is indeed ‘closed’, but then many of the statements made about death in the TNaKh, as well as those made by the Paul, the disciples, and Yeshua himself would be false. 

So, there are two questions that must be answered:

• is the story a true story, or is it a parable, and
• if it is a parable, why did Yeshua use a story that indicates that life continues on after death

We will attempt to answer both.

The context of the story begins in Luke 15.  It is here that we find Yeshua in the company of “sinners” and being harassed by the scribes and Pharisees.  Yeshua’s response was to tell them a parable.  So what is a parable? Before going further, let’s define a parable and determine their purpose, at least in regards to Yeshua’s purpose for them.

Early in Yeshua’s ministry, His disciples noticed that whenever He spoke to them, he spoke plainly, but when He spoke to others, He spoke using parables.  This perplexed them, so they asked him “why”? His answer was -

^ESV Matthew 13:11-15 … "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  ¹² For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  ¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "' You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.  ¹⁵ For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.'

Yeshua spoke to the crowds in parables because it was not their time to understand the deep things of the Kingdom of God.  They were able to get the basics, but the mysteries were only given to the disciples.  So by giving His messages to the crowds in parables, He was able to get His point across, but avoid divulging the details that were reserved for the disciples.

What are parables?  Every instance (except for one) of the word ‘parable(s)’ in the KJV is translated from the Greek word ‘parabole’ {par-ab-ol-ay} (3850).  ‘Parabole’ comes from the Greek words ‘bole’ (throwing) and ‘para’ (alongside).  In mathematics, a parabola is a u-shaped curve that can be defined by an equation.  It is called such because when you throw a ball into the air, the path of a ball a parabola.  A common example of a parabola is a satellite dish that many use to receive television signals.

In literary terms, a ‘parable’ is a comparison or story told to illustrate a point. Today, we would call it a ‘simile’ – a comparison of two things of a different kind. An example of such is: ”She is as innocent as an angel”.  In the simile “she” is not necessarily an angel, but her integrity is being compared to that of an “angel”.  In order to understand this simile, the hearer would not necessarily have to believe in angels, but would have to know a little bit about them.  Such is the same with Yeshua’s parable of leaven -

^NKJ Matthew 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

The point of the parable is that the Kingdom of God would start out very small, but would spread throughout the earth.  A person would not have to be a baker to understand this, but would at least need to know that a small amount of leaven placed in dough will eventually spread throughout the entire loaf.

Yeshua’s parables sometimes went beyond a simple comparison.  At times they would be in the form of a story where fictional characters were used to illustrate a truth.  For instance, the “Parable of the Good Samaritan” – a story Yeshua told to answer a Jewish lawyer who asked “who is my neighbor”.  In the story, a Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and was attacked by thieves and left to die. A priest saw him on the road, but passed by without helping him.  Later, a Levite did the same thing.  Finally, a Samaritan came by and helped the Jewish man out.

In that parable, no characters are named, so it is apparent that the story was fiction.  What’s more, if the hearer was not aware of the animosity that existed between the Jews and the Samaritans, he would not have understood the parable.  Obviously, the Jewish lawyer did, so Yeshua advised him to follow the example of the Samaritan, i.e. – take care of others even if you don’t like them.5

It is interesting to note that the scripture never defines this story as a parable, yet most every Bible student claims that it is.

Let’s now take a look at the context of the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man.

The story actually begins in Luke 15 where a group of Pharisees and lawyers were mingling with a crowd that included tax collectors and sinners.  They were all listening to Yeshua’s teaching, but the Pharisees were mumbling, saying “… this Man receives sinners6 and eats with them." (vs. 2).  Yeshua hears their mumbling and responds to them with four parables: the lost sheep (Luke 15:4-7), the lost coin (15:8-10), the prodigal son (15:11-32), and the unjust steward (16:1-13).

The first three parables show why Yeshua was reaching out to sinners.  The fourth is an indictment against the Pharisees because they - like the unjust steward - laid an additional burden (their oral traditions) on the people.7  After the fourth parable, Luke records Yeshua giving a short commentary on that parable and then states the following as a background for what Yeshua did next -

^ESV Luke 16:14  The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.

Being lovers of money and power was the underlying problem with the Jewish leadership – especially the Pharisees.  They ‘bent’ the law in order to accommodate their desire for wealth, and in the next verse, Yeshua called them out -

^ESV Luke 16:15  And he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

That statement was probably a reference to their greedy twist of the Torah commandments concerning “corban” 8 and the allegation that they “devour widow’s houses” (Mark 12:38-40). Yeshua then gave them a few more examples of their collective unrighteousness -  

• how they resisted John the Baptist as his kingdom message was beginning to unfold (vs. 16)
• their willingness to bend the law in regards to marriage (vs.17-18)

He then immediately jumped into the story of Lazarus and the rich man.

Before we get into that story, let’s think about what we’ve seen so far.  Yeshua is confronted by the scribes (lawyers) and the Pharisees – men who are supposed to be experts on the law.  They accuse Him of coddling sinners, i.e. – “law breakers”, while at the same time, they themselves are corrupting the same law they accuse the “sinners” of breaking.  Yeshua responds with three stories (parables) to explain to them why He reaches out to the sinners, and one to illustrate how their oral traditions add an extra burden to the Torah.  The Pharisees then ridicule Him and He responds by reminding them that they had actually changed the Law of God to accommodate their desire for wealth, and they did it at other’s expense.

Now ask yourself - “In His current confrontation with the Pharisees, would it be beneficial for Yeshua to change the subject and tell a story illustrating what happens after a person dies, or would it be a better use of the occasion to tell a story about the ramifications of treating your brother harshly?”  Obviously, a discussion of life after death would serve no purpose. On the other hand, a ‘parable’ that pertains to the things He was currently dealing with would be beneficial because Yeshua - a master at crafting parables – could make His point very quickly without having to provide all the details.

Being that Yeshua oftentimes uses parables as the response to questions or confrontations, it is therefore safe to conclude that the story is not a true story, but is instead, a parable.  So the question now is why did he use a parable that seemingly indicates that life continues on after death? To understand that, we must understand a little about the Jewish culture of the day.

Like Judaism today, the 1^st century Jewish people had differing views about what happens when a person dies.  Many of those views were based on Egyptian and/or Greek mythology that crept into Judea and Samaria as the Jews returned from Egypt, and as a result of the Hellenization of the Jewish people after the death of Alexander the Great.  One of the leading sources of ‘after life’ views was the writings of the Greek philosophers Plato and Socrates.  Plato was a proponent of the belief in an immortal soul and wrote extensively about it.  Over the years, many stories were written and circulated to explain Plato’s views.

One such story – written in Egypt but altered to fit the Judean culture – was about a rich publican and a poor rabbi, both of whom had died. In the 'afterlife', they were walking in the midst of beautiful streams.  The poor rabbi was able to bend over and scoop a drink of water with his hands, but whenever the rich publican attempted to do so, the water receded away9.

Yeshua may have used that story - altering it to fit His needs - as a backdrop for His parable.  In doing so, He could make his point very quickly since His audience – the Pharisees, did believe in an afterlife (resurrection) and would have been familiar with the story.

He told the story of a rich man who had a servant named Lazarus10.  Lazarus came down with a sickness, and the rich man – instead of taking care of him, no longer had a use or regard for him, and so he “threw”11 him at the gate of his property to fend for himself as a beggar. The servant wished that he could at least receive the scraps from the rich man’s table, but apparently was refused. Thus we have an example of a Hebrew refusing to take care of his Hebrew servant as prescribed by the Torah. 

At this point in the story, the Pharisees would have understood that He was talking about them.

To illustrate the consequences of such behavior, Yeshua borrowed from one of the prominent Jewish views of life after death. He showed that the beggar died – likely because of his sickness, and the rich man also died.  Whereas upon death the beggar was carried by the angels to “Abraham’s Bosem”12, the rich man was simply buried, but quickly found himself in torment.

Verses 23 through 26 are pretty much self explanatory – the parable shows that what happened in their ‘human’ lives is now reversed. 

The real meat of the parable begins at verse 27 where the rich man wants Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers to not to continue in the lifestyle they all had or were currently living.  And how was that?  They lived like the rich man – without any regard for those who were less fortunate.  Abraham’s response to the rich man was that the still living brothers have the warning of Moses and the prophets right at their fingertips; and if they won’t listen to Moses (who, along with Abraham, was the most highly esteemed person in Jewish culture) what makes him think they would listen to someone who rose from the dead? Yeshua’s parable obviously hit the mark because we hear no more about the Pharisees that day.  They apparently slithered away, looking for another opportunity to attack.  Ironically, some of them did - just months’ later - actually see Lazarus rise from the dead, and as Yeshua said, they did not believe.  Even when Yeshua died and rose days later, they still did not acknowledge that what Moses and the prophets had foretold about Him actually did come to pass.

The greatest beneficiaries from this parable were the disciples.  As Yeshua said to them after the crowd had left and they were again alone -

^NKJ Luke 17:1 … "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!

They too were going to face  ‘offenses’ – ‘scandals’ – traps set with the hope of snaring a person in his words13, but they had seen how Yeshua, even after great ridicule, stuck to the message and humbly “put the Pharisees in their place” by saying as little as necessary and by carefully choosing His words. He assured them that with confidence in their message and faith which God provides, they too could stand against the Jewish leadership and do the job they had been called to do; and they replied “increase our faith” (17:5).   

So the parable of Lazarus and the rich man is just that – a parable.  It vividly conveyed Yeshua’s point that if a person will not believe the words written in the Bible, he will not believe them even if Yeshua Himself stood right in front of him teaching them.  Because He used a parable that incorporated their cultural beliefs, even though those beliefs were scripturally incorrect – He was able to get his point across in relatively few words.

Thief on the Cross (Luke 23:42)

^ESV Luke 23:42-43   And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."  ⁴³ And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

This passage is typically used to show that the ‘soul’ of Yeshua as well as the ‘repentant’ robber arrived in “Paradise” immediately upon death, but there are problems.

The first problem is that we know little about the thief’s heart while on the stake.  The common understanding is that he was repentant.  Unfortunately, there is no indication of that.  Even though he acknowledged that he was deserving of the punishment rendered, there is no indication that he was sorry for what he had done other than being sorry that he got caught.  What we do know is that he, along with his fellow thief did recognize Yeshua as the one many believed was to become the King of the Jews. Apparently this thief either shared that belief, or in his current predicament – thought that it might be possible.  After all, what did he have to lose?  The question then is whether or not Yeshua took this simple act of acknowledging that He was the king  - typical of a death-bed confession – as a repentant heart that would insure he would end up in ‘Paradise’ as opposed to Sheol?” 

We would also need to ask why it is that though the thief asked Yeshua to remember him when He came into his kingdom, Yeshua answered him by saying that “you will be with me in Paradise”.  Were the ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Paradise’ one and the same in the eyes of Yeshua?  What’s more, were either or both in existence at the time Yeshua made these statements?

The Greek word for ‘kingdom’ is ‘basileia’ (Strong’s 932), a term that generally means “reign” or “rule”. It is the same word that applies to the coming kingdom of God that had yet to begin even 40 days after Yeshua died as shown by the disciples question to Yeshua shortly before He ascended to YHVH.

^NKJ Acts 1:6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

Since Yeshua knew that the Kingdom would not be restored on the day He was laid to rest, He could have answered the request in the affirmative since the request did not include a time frame.   Nevertheless, Yeshua did not answer the request, but instead stated that the thief would be with Him in Paradise.  Why did He not answer the request? Could it be that –

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 … the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

So instead of making a promise to the thief that He could not keep, he indicated that the thief would eventually have to repent (which is the purpose for the Messianic Kingdom, and which Yeshua assumed he would do) and could then join Him in Paradise at the appropriate time. 

So what is Paradise?  Though many of the Jews in the first century were steeped in Greek mythology concerning the afterlife – much of which was based on the philosophy and writings of Plato – the term “paradise’, as used in the scripture, means “garden”.  In the LXX, the Greek word “paradeisos” (3857) translates the word “gan” ( גָן– 1588 – ‘garden’) in these TNAKH passages - Gen. 2:9,15,16; 3:1,8,10; and Ezekiel 31:8 -  and in each of these cases, it refers to the Garden of Eden, the home of the Tree of Life.  In the NT, ‘paradise is used (in addition to Luke 23:43) in Paul’s vision in 2 Corinthians 12:4 and in John’s vision in Revelation. In Paul’s vision, ‘paradise’ is equivalent to the ‘third heaven’, and in John’s vision it is clearly a reference to the Garden of Eden.