Still Without Understanding

Mark, Matthew and Luke are referred to as the synoptic gospels since they share stories of Jesus--in some cases word-for-word. "The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Edition" provides excellent teaching regarding the formation of the Gospels. John's Gospel is considered to have been written later than the synoptic gospels and it differs in several places from the others relative to the timing of the events in the Gospel. In John's Gospel there are two resurrections: Lazarus and Jesus. Others mentioned in Mark and Luke are not noted in John. However, life after death and spirits are noted in several places in John. To me spirits are a direct expression of life after death. The spirits may have once had earthly bodies and are now in the 'non-physical reality' realm. References from John: Ch. 1:32 "...I saw the spirit descending from heaven." Ch. 3:16 "...For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who beli...

  By now you should realize Jesus came to teach and he came to teach about life after bodily death. In Luke there are numerous references to spirits and life after the body has died. Luke Ch. 7: 11-17 "...a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow...".  [Jesus said] "...'Do not weep....Young man, I say to you, rise!' The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother." Ch 8: 41-56 "Just then there came a man named Jarius, a leader in the synagogue. He fell at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had only one daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying." ..."While he was speaking, someone came from the leader's house to say, 'Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.' [Jesus went to the leader's house] "They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, 'Do not weep, for she is not dead but slee...