Jesus' Prayer for Lazarus (John 11)

As Jesus stands before the open tomb of his dead friend Lazarus, he says an interesting prayer: "Father, I thank you because you heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I said it because of the crowd standing around me, so that they may believe that you sent me."

The phrase in italics is from Ps 118:21 (117:21 in the LXX numbering). The psalmist says "I thank you because you heard me, and because you have become my savior/salvation." Remember that the Psalms served Israel as both a song book and a prayer book. Even a barely educated (but pious) first-century Jew would be able to sing most the Psalms from memory.

Why does Jesus refer to Ps 118 while praying? First, this Psalm is a central part of Jesus' self-understanding. The following verse, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone" (Ps 118:22) is quoted several times in the New Testament to describe how Jesus was rejected by the leaders of Israel but chosen by God (Matt 21:42-44, Acts 4:10-11, 1 Pet 2:4-7). Just a few weeks after the raising of Lazarus, the crowds at the Triumphal Entry acclaim Jesus as king (and therefore Messiah) by singing Ps 118:25-26 to him, "Hosanna! (Save!) Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (John 12:12-13).

Second (and perhaps most importantly), Ps 118 is an appropriate one to the situation of the death of Lazarus. It describes God's help in a time of severe need. V. 17 is especially appropriate: "I will not die, but live, and recount the deeds of the Lord."

Finally, there are three interesting possible plays on words in Ps 118. When the crowds shout "Hosanna," they are intentionally connecting the Psalm to Jesus. The Hebrew phrase is hoshiyah-nah, (save, please!), and hoshiyah is from the same root as Jesus (Yeshua = Savior, salvation). While that may be obscure to us, it is fairly clear in Hebrew. In the same way, Ps 118:21 reads "you have become my Yeshua (= Savior/salvation)." Last (and this is quite speculative, as if the rest of this post were not!), Lazarus is a nickname for Eleazar, "God has helped" - and this phrase is found in Ps 118:13.

What I find most interesting is that in a moment of deep emotion, Jesus naturally turns to a prayer that he has probably often prayed before, a prayer that communicates his own and Lazarus' deep needs. Jesus wants God to help (Eleazar), he wants God to bring salvation (Yeshua). He wants this for the sake of Lazarus' family, but mainly so that Lazarus will recount the deeds of the Lord (as he does, John 12:10-11, 17) and so that many will believe that Jesus is sent (John 11:42), or rather that he "comes in the name of the Lord" (John 12:13/Ps 118:26)

Nerd note: John uses updated Greek in this allusion to Psalm 118, as he does in other allusions to the OT. Psalm 118 uses the older epakouo for hear and exomologeomai for thank. John updates to the more normal 1st century akouo for hear and eucharisteo for thank.

The picture: The Raising of Lazarus, by Giotto di Bondone, 1308.

Restoring a Fisherman (John 21:15-17)

In a recent post, I pointed out that we should not read too much into the variation of Greek words (such as agape and phileo) in the account of Simon Peter's restoration in John 21:15-17. The passage is very poetic, and uses a number of synonymous words for stylistic reasons.

One of my beefs with Bible professors (and I am one of them) is that sometimes we take a perverse delight in skewering common misinterpretations of Scripture, but then we leave people with nothing. We take away meaning, rather than adding understanding. My goal, as a professor who regularly skewers bad interpretation, is to replace bad interpretation with better - and that better interpretation is (or ought to be) more attractive because it is truer and more powerful.

In John 21:15-17, there is much to learn after we remove bad interpretation. First, we find seven disciples fishing. Since fishing was not primarily for recreation, it seems that Peter is returning to his old career. Nothing wrong with fishing for a living - but Peter had been called to be a full-time disciple of the rabbi. Peter probably felt that his failure disqualified him to serve or lead.

The miraculous catch of fish in John 21 is a reminder of Peter's initial call to be a "fisher of men." (Nerd note: this version of Peter's initial call is found only in Luke 5:1-11, and not in John. But I think that we have here an example of what Johannine scholars call "interlocking," where John refers to things that the readers would only know if they were familiar with the Synoptic gospel stories, and especially Luke). The repeat of the miracle puts Peter in a state of mind to be re-summoned to service.

The miracle also contains a minor allusion to an OT prophecy about the new covenant age. Ezek 47:1-12 describes a river of healing water flowing from the Temple (compare to John 7:37-39, where the river comes from Jesus), which bring a multiplication of fish. Some ancient rabbinic sources specifically located Ezekiel's multiplication of the fish at the Sea of Tiberias (cp. John 21:1).

Jesus further prepares Peter for restoration by cooking breakfast over an anthrakia, a charcoal fire, perhaps in a metal brazier. The only other time that anthrakia occurs in the Bible is in John 18:18, where Peter denied that he knew Christ three times. This explains the repetition in John 21. Peter now has the chance to do it right. Just as three times he denied Jesus before enemies, he now can affirm his love for Jesus three times before friends.

Jesus' goal is to restore Peter to self-sacrificial service, to help him become a shepherd like Jesus (see John 1o). Part of the reason that Peter had denied Jesus was that he had wanted to die with Jesus, and followed Jesus into a place where he was unable to remain loyal. He was more concerned with his own personal loyalty to Jesus, and less concerned with shepherding his brothers.

Peter took his re-appointment to shepherding seriously. Thirty years later, he wrote this to church leaders: "Shepherd the flock of God among you, not grudgingly, but willingly, as God wants you to... be examples to the flock. Then when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive a glorious and unfading crown." (1 Pet 5:2-4)

Harrowing of Hell?

Question: I recently heard Tony Campolo mention the Apostles' Creed and how basically it was an almost perfect summation of the right "stuff" to believe as an Evangelical. Upon seeking it out and reading the different versions for myself there was one part included in some versions that didn't sit well with me... "he descended into hell." Is this true? Did Christ really descend into hell between his crucifixion and resurrection? - K.L.

Many Christians throughout history have believed that Jesus went to hell during the three days after his death, either experiencing full punishment for our sins, or preaching to the damned, or releasing OT faithful from imprisonment (the so-called "harrowing of hell"). However, the four gospels say nothing about where Jesus was during those three days.

Why do some people believe in Jesus' descent to Hell? First, some later versions of the Apostles' Creed include the phrase "He descended into Hell," but the earliest versions don't include that phrase. (The phrase first shows up in the seventh version of the creed, in the works of Rufinus of Rome in AD 390.)

Second, some interpret 1 Pet 3:18-20 to mean that Jesus was in Hell; but most NT scholars don't think that's what Peter meant. It's a very difficult passage to understand, but it has several possible interpretations. When Peter says "He preached to the spirits in prison," it may be referring to spirits who are now in prison, but were not when he preached to them. We also don't know if he is referring to human spirits or demonic spirits. Other passages describe the cross as a proclamation of victory against the evil powers (Eph 3:10, Col 2:15). Peter may even be referring to the Spirit of Christ being preached through Noah, as he earlier said in 1 Peter 1:10-11.

Third, some people think that Ephesians 4:8-10 refers to Jesus' descent to Hell. But the passage, read carefully, probably refers to Christ's descent to earth, not Hell (note how the NIV and NLT correctly translate this passage).

So what's the bottom line? The idea that Jesus descended into Hell does not have firm scriptural support, although some believe in it based on 1 Peter 3:18-20. We should normally avoid building significant doctrines based on a single difficult passage. Whichever way you believe on this issue, this is a relatively minor issue, not one that Christians should fight over. Christ's victory on the cross and at the empty tomb is far more important than what happened during the three days between them.

The picture: Descent of Christ to Limbo, Andrea da Firenze, 1365.

Three Days and Three Nights

Earlier this week I posted on the meaning of Jesus' three days in the tomb. Here are some other random thoughts on the three days:

• Some sticklers notice that Friday afternoon to Sunday morning is only a day and a half, not three days. Greek writings, especially those written by Jews, used three phrases interchangeably: "three days and three nights" "after three days" and "on the third day." All mean something like "the day after tomorrow." I have seen the phrases used interchangeably in the Gospels, in Josephus, and in Esther 4:16-5:1.
• Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after four days (John 11:17); mentioning the four days shows how certain it was that Lazarus was dead. In the same way, Jesus' three days in the tomb shows the certainty of his death. (Later rabbinic documents show that some Jews believed that it was possible to raise someone from the dead, but only in the first three days; that might be interesting, but we have no idea if Jews at the time of Jesus believed that).
• Many Christians throughout history have believed that Jesus went to hell during the three days, either experiencing full punishment for our sins, or releasing OT faithful from imprisonment, or preaching to the damned (the so-called "harrowing of hell"). However, the four gospels say nothing about where Jesus was. Some interpret 1 Pet 3:18-20 to mean that Jesus was in hell; but most NT scholars don't think that's what Peter meant.

The picture: "Descent to Hell" by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308. Jesus is shown trampling Satan and helping Adam and Eve up.