The 3 people in the Bible I would most like to ask questions of
Besides Jesus, there are 3 other people in the Bible I would most like to ask questions of. These are Eve, Lazarus, and the apostle Mark.
How I wish that more had been recorded in the Bible from each of these people! But of course I have to remember that the fact that there wasn't more is because it wasn't strictly necessary for us to hear more from them. The Bible is sufficient to generate faith.
Eve
For Eve, the questions I'd want to ask are not "why did you do it?" because I too disobey God every day. The question of why she ate the apple is exactly the same question we could ask ourselves "Why was I judgmental toward this person?" "Why did I not listen to God about this situation?", "Why did I allow myself to fall into temptation?" and so on. After thinking about it, I knew it would be hypocritical of me to blame Eve for mankind's fallen state (see my other article about that).
What I would ask is that I would be really curious to know what life was like for her.
I don't see evolution and Christianity being mutually exclusive (see my other article about that here). But I do believe Eve and Adam were the first in a new line of species - the first that were differentiated enough from animals to be, well, human. I'd want to ask her what it was like not having health class or anything else like that to help figure things out. How did she and Adam figure out how to propagate the species? What was the first pregnancy like? All of that would be pretty scary for her, I would imagine. Thankfully, they figured it out or I wouldn't be here typing this today. (That feels very metaphysical!) As much as I'd like to ask her these questions, I know the answers wouldn't have long-term significance as regards matters of faith or anything truly important. Because if those answers did, these things would already be in the Bible. It would probably be the spiritual equivalent of asking the apostle John of Patmos what he ate for breakfast. There is nothing wrong with hearing the answer, but it's unlikely to tie into anything of actual long-term importance. So, as curious as I am about Eve, I know I will have to let those questions rest.
Lazarus
Lazurus was raised from the dead long after decomposition had begun to occur. I am sure there are plenty of people who are just itching to ask Lazurus where he was when he died and what did it feel like to be dead and brought back to life. How did this experience change his life afterward? Disappointingly for me, none of this information is in the Bible. Let's take a look at what is recorded about this:
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
John 11: 38-45
As you can see, there is no information on Lazarus' viewpoint of this. To me, it seems like a huge gap of knowledge, but at the same time I also know that if it's not in the Bible it's because it wasn't deemed by God to be an essential part of what we need to know. The fact of the raising of Lazarus by Jesus certainly was essential for us to know; how Lazarus felt about all this was not.
Mark
Mark was a fisherman who came with Jesus when Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee. Jesus told Mark he would teach him to become a fisher of men. See my other article about that here.
Mark in so many ways seems so ordinary and matter-of-fact that I often find myself wishing to ask him "How did you know to follow Jesus? How did you know he was genuine?"
Mark experienced many unusual events in his walk with Jesus, yet never seemed to question whether he was on the right track, even though some of these events were not always comfortable ones. Mark was obviously a man of faith and with the gift of discernment. Yet he seems in so many ways such an ordinary practical man that I find it amazing to know that he was willing to put everything aside for something important (becoming an apostle of Jesus).
In some ways he reminds me of men in the church who at first glance seem like ordinary everyday people but who clearly have immense faith and are clearly listening and acting in accordance with the Holy Spirit. I suppose I could simply ask these people the same questions I'd pose to Mark.
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How I wish that more had been recorded in the Bible from each of these people! But of course I have to remember that the fact that there wasn't more is because it wasn't strictly necessary for us to hear more from them. The Bible is sufficient to generate faith.
Eve
For Eve, the questions I'd want to ask are not "why did you do it?" because I too disobey God every day. The question of why she ate the apple is exactly the same question we could ask ourselves "Why was I judgmental toward this person?" "Why did I not listen to God about this situation?", "Why did I allow myself to fall into temptation?" and so on. After thinking about it, I knew it would be hypocritical of me to blame Eve for mankind's fallen state (see my other article about that).
What I would ask is that I would be really curious to know what life was like for her.
I don't see evolution and Christianity being mutually exclusive (see my other article about that here). But I do believe Eve and Adam were the first in a new line of species - the first that were differentiated enough from animals to be, well, human. I'd want to ask her what it was like not having health class or anything else like that to help figure things out. How did she and Adam figure out how to propagate the species? What was the first pregnancy like? All of that would be pretty scary for her, I would imagine. Thankfully, they figured it out or I wouldn't be here typing this today. (That feels very metaphysical!) As much as I'd like to ask her these questions, I know the answers wouldn't have long-term significance as regards matters of faith or anything truly important. Because if those answers did, these things would already be in the Bible. It would probably be the spiritual equivalent of asking the apostle John of Patmos what he ate for breakfast. There is nothing wrong with hearing the answer, but it's unlikely to tie into anything of actual long-term importance. So, as curious as I am about Eve, I know I will have to let those questions rest.
Lazarus
Lazurus was raised from the dead long after decomposition had begun to occur. I am sure there are plenty of people who are just itching to ask Lazurus where he was when he died and what did it feel like to be dead and brought back to life. How did this experience change his life afterward? Disappointingly for me, none of this information is in the Bible. Let's take a look at what is recorded about this:
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
John 11: 38-45
As you can see, there is no information on Lazarus' viewpoint of this. To me, it seems like a huge gap of knowledge, but at the same time I also know that if it's not in the Bible it's because it wasn't deemed by God to be an essential part of what we need to know. The fact of the raising of Lazarus by Jesus certainly was essential for us to know; how Lazarus felt about all this was not.
Mark
Mark was a fisherman who came with Jesus when Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee. Jesus told Mark he would teach him to become a fisher of men. See my other article about that here.
Mark in so many ways seems so ordinary and matter-of-fact that I often find myself wishing to ask him "How did you know to follow Jesus? How did you know he was genuine?"
Mark experienced many unusual events in his walk with Jesus, yet never seemed to question whether he was on the right track, even though some of these events were not always comfortable ones. Mark was obviously a man of faith and with the gift of discernment. Yet he seems in so many ways such an ordinary practical man that I find it amazing to know that he was willing to put everything aside for something important (becoming an apostle of Jesus).
In some ways he reminds me of men in the church who at first glance seem like ordinary everyday people but who clearly have immense faith and are clearly listening and acting in accordance with the Holy Spirit. I suppose I could simply ask these people the same questions I'd pose to Mark.
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