Prophecy was inextricably woven throughout all phases of Jesus' ministry. The Parables had hidden truths on His return; the fate of the Apostles and the future end time events were emphasized in Matthew 24; and His role of God in the flesh was brought to the attention of the Pharisees as well as to those who would worship Him recognizing His Divinity. In this regard; of course hell was discussed more than heaven including the real account of Lazarus and the rich (unnamed) man in hell.
It is truly remarkable to see how the miraculous signs and wonders were unable to wake anyone up to the truth who God didn't elect. Such is the case with the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Such is the case in Luke 16:31. In fact; when we consider the Crucifixion and Resurrection even clear evidences weren't enough to convince the Roman officials and those in power. This is abundantly clear from Matthew 28:13 where the soldiers were actually paid for "sleeping on the job" when such an offence by law would be a death penalty certainty. Men will go out of their way to lie; just as we saw with Lazarus being raised by Christ they saught to kill him and Christ because of their insane jealousy of His authority ( John 12:9-11).
In all of this we shouldn't avoid seeing the big picture. Christ in all of His ministry only did the Father's will ( John 8:28; 38; John 12:49). His exaltation; therefore and claims to Diviity were never self serving; but whowed God's plan. Somehow Christ would condescend to being a man; and have a life of sorrow and suffering ( Isaiah 53); then He would take on the sins of all His elect and be our atonement; dying on the cross and rising victorious. EXERCISING His authority would be after God grants it to Him ( John 28:18). He voluntarily emptied Himself of this authority so God could renew it (Phillipians 2:5-8).
Christ knew all men's hearts. We can say that all things were done in the Spirit by Him.
Prophecy was inextricably woven throughout all phases of Jesus' ministry. The Parables had hidden truths on His return; the fate of the Apostles and the future end time events were emphasized in Matthew 24; and His role of God in the flesh was brought to the attention of the Pharisees as well as to those who would worship Him recognizing His Divinity. In this regard; of course hell was discussed more than heaven including the real account of Lazarus and the rich (unnamed) man in hell.
It is truly remarkable to see how the miraculous signs and wonders were unable to wake anyone up to the truth who God didn't elect. Such is the case with the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Such is the case in Luke 16:31. In fact; when we consider the Crucifixion and Resurrection even clear evidences weren't enough to convince the Roman officials and those in power. This is abundantly clear from Matthew 28:13 where the soldiers were actually paid for "sleeping on the job" when such an offence by law would be a death penalty certainty. Men will go out of their way to lie; just as we saw with Lazarus being raised by Christ they saught to kill him and Christ because of their insane jealousy of His authority ( John 12:9-11).
In all of this we shouldn't avoid seeing the big picture. Christ in all of His ministry only did the Father's will ( John 8:28; 38; John 12:49). His exaltation; therefore and claims to Diviity were never self serving; but whowed God's plan. Somehow Christ would condescend to being a man; and have a life of sorrow and suffering ( Isaiah 53); then He would take on the sins of all His elect and be our atonement; dying on the cross and rising victorious. EXERCISING His authority would be after God grants it to Him ( John 28:18). He voluntarily emptied Himself of this authority so God could renew it (Phillipians 2:5-8).
Christ knew all men's hearts. We can say that all things were done in the Spirit by Him.
This comment thread is locked. Please enter a new comment below to start a new comment thread.
Note: Comment threads older than 2 months are automatically locked.
Do you have a Bible comment or question?
Posting comments is currently unavailable due to high demand on the server.
Please check back in an hour or more. Thank you for your patience!
Report Comment
Which best represents the problem with the comment?