Karin (holie),
Thanks for your review. It is clear that you do not understand this passage in the Bible. First, in your Bible, the verse I refer to should be noted as verse 36. I forgot that there is a one-verse difference between the German and English texts. The key phrase in the passage and my song is “Jesus wept.”

This song is about the compassion of Jesus for not only his personal friends, but also for all of mankind. He wept because he identified with the pain and loss of their family member. He demonstrated that God is not cold and distant, but a near, loving and accesible person.

He knew that it was a disaster for their family that Lazarus died. The lives of his sisters just got much harder without a man in the house, and they could be taken advantage of in many ways. Not only that, but he felt their distress in his own spirit in addition to his own personal loss of his friend.

Now, as I meditated about this passage, I realized that Jesus will raise up his friends to Eternal Life in exactly the same way as his friend Lazarus. Only those who he recognizes as “his friends” will join him in Heaven. Everyone else will be raised later – but to suffer judgment and damnation in Hell.

(Since I am one of his friends, I can expect him to raise me up from my grave when he returns – and I know that he has already grieved over the fact that I must “die.” He has suffered my loss from before the foundation of the world, and already endured that pain my family will bear in exactly the same way as he did for the family of Lazarus.)

This is both good news and bad news. To those who accept him as their Lord and Savior, he will call out their names before the Father for a place in Heaven. Otherwise, he will have to say, “Get away from me – I never knew you.”

Also, I am disturbed by your thought that “there is no death.” This is wrong. There IS death on two levels: 1) physical and 2) spiritual. Both are real. That is why Jesus came in the first place – to address these realities. Rebellion against God will bring spiritual death for eternity. And we only have a few years on this earth before our human machinery fails to function (physical death.)

Whenever you see the term “sleep” in passages like this, you should remember that it is a “poetic” way of speaking. It is more harsh and cold to express such a difficult moment with a phrase like “he is dead” or “she died.” Further, to say “he fell asleep” implies that there is a resurrection coming – hopefully to a reunion with the saints – but a definite resurrection in the end.

My song is one of hope and victory over death, because this passage is about that principle. Jesus wept not out of fear or frustration, but out of his complete human compassion for you and me (and Lazarus.)

Ted