Spiritual Growth #4 – Memorial Day-Who Are the Dead?

Memorial Day Lantern Ceremony, courtesy Dave Mam 2014

In Part or Full?

No doubt, if you’re the “in part” Christian who freaked out at my previous blog, let’s clear up the focal point of that blog: the “dead” visitors. From the perspectives of Jesus and his apostle Paul, Scriptures define what being “dead” meant to them.

First, in Matthew’s gospel 8:19-21 NKJV, Jesus was about ready to leave the area when a scribe declared he would follow Jesus wherever he went. Not to be outdone, another disciple agreed, but asked if he could first leave to bury his dead father. Jesus replied:

Follow (akŏlŏuthĕō, be in the same way with) Me, and let the dead (nĕkrŏs, corpses) bury their own dead (nĕkrŏs, corpses) (Matt. 8: 22 NKJV).

We mortals define dead (nĕkrŏs, corpses) as people who no longer breathe. However, Jesus defined all breathing believers who do not follow (akŏlŏuthĕō, be in the same way with) him as dead (nĕkrŏs, corpses)! W. E. Vine* further clarified akŏlŏuthĕō as a follower, a companion in the sense of union and likeness.

Next, the apostle Paul in his letter to the saints at Ephesus (Chapter 5), agreed. He exhorted them to get rid of carnal, fleshly works that led to death. Until they did, Paul also defined them as dead (nĕkrŏs, corpses).

Wake up (ĕgĕirō, collect your faculties), O sleeper, rise from the dead (nĕkrŏs, being a corpse), and Christ will shine on you (Eph. 5:14 NIV).

The apostle rang the alarm, trying to wake up the dead (nĕkrŏs, corpses) sitting in the pews! As long as the church indulged in the works of the flesh, she was still sleeping and still dead.

Remember. God is the God of the living, not of the dead (nĕkrŏs, corpses). So, to “know fully” is to acknowledge the spirits of the living saints who are with God in heaven, and the spiritually dead (nĕkrŏs, corpses) of Christians sitting in the pews who do not follow Jesus.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked “NIV” are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved; Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (“follow”, “dead”, “wake up”); *Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (1981);