Lazarus a picture of salvation?
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If Lazarus was intended to be a picture of how salvation happens, what can be said about these texts:
Mark 2:17
When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick [do need one: . I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
or
John 5:6
When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
In these texts, the objects of Christ’s mercy are described as sick, not dead. The Mark text is explicit that sinners who need righteousness are sick. To be consistent, those who think Lazarus is a picture of the order of salvation would have to argue that the sick do not even know they are sick. Yet that is exactly opposed to Jesus’ point.
How can the Lazarus story be used to the exclusion of these? It seems like special pleading to have the Lazarus story and not these as well.
Mark 2:17
When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick [do need one: . I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
or
John 5:6
When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
In these texts, the objects of Christ’s mercy are described as sick, not dead. The Mark text is explicit that sinners who need righteousness are sick. To be consistent, those who think Lazarus is a picture of the order of salvation would have to argue that the sick do not even know they are sick. Yet that is exactly opposed to Jesus’ point.
How can the Lazarus story be used to the exclusion of these? It seems like special pleading to have the Lazarus story and not these as well.
Discussion