According to John, Chapter 11

John 11

There is a lot in this story of Lazarus. I know I should write more, but I'm just not feeling it this morning.
If you've been following along (either one if you), feel free to share your thoughts on this chapter.
My minuscule contribution is pointing out more of John's confusing writing.
I know the writing attributes these words to Jesus, but they are so confusing that I think maybe John didn't get it quite right (so much for that inerrant, infallible belief).

From vss 25 & 26
Jesus said to her (Martha), "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

So Martha says yes. She believes him.
I'm saying, "Wait. What? That doesn't make sense."
What is he saying? He first says -- If you believe in me and die, you'll live. But then he says if you believe in me you won't die.
I'm all for trusting God and following Jesus, but I'm not going lie to you -- this confuses me.
It is probably stuff like this that makes people want a Bible study so that somebody can explain exactly what Jesus means.
NEWS FLASH! Nobody really knows. They just make up shit about what they think he means and expect us to accept it. My thought is that it's been maybe 50 years between when this happened and John is writing about it, so maybe he didn't get it quite right. After all, he would have been 70 or 80 years old at the time and we know how memory fades, right?

I'm not meaning to sound sacrilegious here; it's just that sometimes I scratch my head and ask, "What?!"
It is difficult to read through the Bible without the baggage of what you've been previously taught. Sometimes I try to read it as if it was my first time through. It helps me to see the things that make me ask questions and probe a little deeper.

I should probably reaffirm that I do believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. I do believe in eternal life as he teaches it. I do believe that Jesus is the Son of God and is God in the flesh. 
But I don't have all the answers. In fact, I have very few answers. Mostly, I have questions -- lots of them!

So--
Not a very devotional kind of daily reading today. I'll try to do better tomorrow.
Or maybe I need a day off from posting.
Maybe...

John