Sleep in Jesus.

[Guest agua]

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[EricH]

Jesus describes death as sleep.Why?

Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

Strongs sleep (concerning death)

G2837

κοιμάω

koimaō

koy-mah'-o

From G2749; to put to sleep, that is, (passively or reflexively) to slumber; figuratively to decease: - (be a-, fall a-, fall on) sleep, be dead.

Jesus knows death is only temporary,so likens it to sleep.

And so the elect are those that sleep in Jesus.

1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

I believe this sleep is a state of no consciousness.Is this truth?

The idea of soul-sleep is usually defended by citing scriptures like the ones you have stated above (Matthew 9:24; Acts 7:60 etc). But the question we must ask is in what sense the word is being used. Is it meant to describe a literal sleep, or is it being used metaphorically to describe the temporal nature of death for believers? For example. Jesus says this in John 11:11:

He said this, and then He told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm on My way to wake him up." (John 11:11 CSB). Jesus did not say here that Lazarus' soul was asleep. No passage of scripture says this. In th passage above John actually explains that Jesus did not mean this literally, but figuratively:

Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought He was speaking about natural sleep. (John 11:13 HCSB)

We do however have passages that describe people who have died being in a conscious state:

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, to Jesus (mediator of a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24 HCSB)

This does not describe angels and a host of sleeping souls.

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of God's word and the testimony they had. They cried out with a loud voice: "O Lord, holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9-10 CSB)

Again, the martyrs described here are pictured as souls who are awake and crying out to God, not asleep.

[OneLight]

I agree completely with Eric. We also read in 2 Corinthians 5:8 "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."

[OneLight]

Returning to dust speaks of the physical body, not the spiritual.

[OneLight]

Well, even though we should not create doctrine out of a parable, we do have the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus to give a story where a lesson is embedded.

Luke 16:19-31 (New King James Version)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

[OneLight]

May I ask what you see in these verses, the dead in Christ sleeping or the dead in Christ risen?

Matthew 27:50-53 (New King James Version)

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

[~candice~]

Returning to dust speaks of the physical body, not the spiritual.

So the spiritual "body" has consciousness before resurrection?

Ecc 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Solomon said there is no knowledge in the grave.He was surely not speaking of dead flesh as separate from the spirit.

I think this is a call to do the work that God has for us, right here and now, because it is too late when we die. I also think that 'there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave' means something different to what you think it means.

[BlindSeeker]

I have always wondered whether it is correct to assume that time is experienced the same for those living and dead, or those conscious or not, such as in a coma. I personally believe time is created for the living and those capable of interaction within its boundaries. A person who has died, or is in a coma, in my opinion is outside of time and space and therefore not just unconscious. Therefore I believe the reference to them being "asleep" is regarding their relationship to us and not their actual state of being.

Having experience the passing of many family members and friends, (some believers and some not), I have often reflected on the scripture as I pondered the where they went. Admittedly there are scriptures which clearly present the stance that they are asleep until the last trump when the dead in Christ rise. This without a doubt requires the passage of linear time as we know and experience. Then there are also scriptures which seem to (with equal clarity) communicate that once we die we straight way go to be with the Lord.

What if those who died (or are in a coma) are released from the governing parameters of creation which the living are bound to and go straight way to, let

[OneLight]

To be honest BlindSeeker, I am not sold on what is the right way to view the time between the body dying and being with Christ either. It could very well be that the very next thing we realize is being with Him, even though in the living timescale, it has been 100 or 1000 years. It is the idea of how we view sleep, including the realm of dreaming, that makes me turn from the idea of "soul sleep".

[OneLight]

Anyone dare take a stab at Matthew 27:50-53?