The Gospel into Nepal

The world’s former only official Hindu country is now open to the preaching of the Gospel, a Christian missionary working in the country shared this past weekend with joy. Formerly, Christians were reportedly arrested and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel in Nepal. Speaker Narayan Sharma, Gospel for Asia’s Nepal country leader, said at the GFA “Renewing Your Passion” Conference in Dallas, Texas, on Friday. He recounted when he himself was arrested and put into a dungeon-like prison cell because he shared his faith. “In all this darkness, there was no imagination that the country would ever be open,” Sharma said.

But in April, Nepal held its first election for a new legislative assembly, and in May lawmakers legally abolished the monarchy and declared the country a republic. The king was previously considered to be a god. Newly elected officials also promised to allow religious freedom in the government.

The Nexus between Jesus and Lazarus

First, Jesus demonstrated His power over death, by delaying his return to Bethany until Lazarus died and was buried, instead of frantically returning to prevent his death. The unspoken request in the sisters’ appeal was that Jesus would return once He knew of Lazarus’ condition. Indeed, it embodied their sense that Christ’s love for the whole family would prompt His return. Interestingly, when the centurion requested healing for his servant (Matthew 8:5-7) and Jairus brought news of his daughter’s imminent demise (Mark 5:22-24), Jesus immediately went to their homes. Yet, with one of His dearest friends deathly-ill, He deliberately stayed away. Jesus obviously retained absolute control of His ministry. He had a plan, followed its self-imposed timetable and implemented its procedures as He determined-because He had absolute confidence in His death-defying sovereignty.

Second, Jesus demonstrated His power over death by arriving in Bethany four days after Lazarus was buried. According to Jewish legend, the spirit hovered over the corpse three days before departing for Sheol. To everyone in Bethany, all hope of resurrecting Lazarus had vanished by the time Jesus arrived. Lazarus had disappeared beyond recall. Which explains the Lord’s return only after all hope of recovering Lazarus was past. Christ’s power over death couldn’t have been expressed as it was if He had been present even hours or a day after His friend’s departure.

The Gospel of John

The Gospel of John is one of four gospels in the Holy Bible and is the fourth book in chronological order presented in the New Testament. The Gospel of John is a unique perspective of the life of Jesus Christ. It varies from the other three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (also known as the synoptic gospels), by focusing more on spiritual themes rather than historical events. The author of this gospel was the disciple John, one of the twelve disciples that followed Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. The author identifies himself in the last chapter of the gospel: “This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.” (John 21:24). John was also known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (see John 13:23, 19:26, and 21:7.). Perhaps this explains the uniqueness of John’s record of the life of Jesus. The book is filled with first hand accounts of experiences with Jesus Christ that occurred during Christ’s 33 years of life on earth. Scholars generally accept that the Gospel of John was written between 50 and 85 A.D.