The Narrow Path · Lesson 1 · Study questions & answers

God So Loved the World

Parashat Bereishit (Genesis 1:1–6:8) · Discussed Sunday, October 11, 2026

John 3:16 is often called “the gospel in a nutshell,” but Yeshua summed up his own message in different words: “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This lesson reads John 3:16 from a Jewish perspective and finds the same call. Repentance is a turning of the whole life, the kingdom is Hashem’s coming reign on earth, and everlasting life is the resurrection of the dead.

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Illustration of teens and parents studying the Bible around a long table with open books, a narrow path winding up a hill outside the window. The banner reads “Yeshua’s Gospel in a Nutshell: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17).” The footer reads “Teens · Families · Arlington · On Zoom” and www.beneiavraham.com.

These are our answers to the Lesson 1 study questions for The Narrow Path, our teen and family Torah study: 21 study questions, 5 “Thinking About It” prompts and 2 prayers. The questions are summarized in our own words. Each answer gives the main point first, then supporting sources from the Tanakh, the Brit Hadashah and Jewish tradition.

Focus Section 1

Repent

Study question 1

What is the basic meaning of metanoeo, the Greek word the Gospels use for “repent”?

Answer: “To change one’s mind.” The word is built from meta (after, change) and noeo (to think), so on its own it suggests a new opinion or conviction. But Yeshua taught in Hebrew and Aramaic, so his call to repent has to be heard through the Hebrew idea behind the Greek word.

Tanakh

Hosea 14:1: “O Israel, return unto Hashem thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” The prophets’ word is “return” (shuv), not “rethink.”

Brit Hadashah

Acts 3:19: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out”. Luke pairs metanoeo with a second Greek verb, epistrepho (“turn around,” here “be converted”), to carry the full Hebrew sense.

Jewish tradition

The Septuagint: the ancient Jewish translation of the Scriptures into Greek usually renders the Hebrew shuv with epistrepho, “to turn back,” rather than with a word for changing one’s mind.

Study question 2

What does the Hebrew word teshuvah literally mean?

Answer: “Return.” Teshuvah comes from shuv, to turn back. It pictures someone walking the wrong way who stops, turns around and heads in the opposite direction. In the prophets it means: stop sinning, turn back to Hashem, and start doing good.

Tanakh

Isaiah 1:16–17: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
Isaiah 55:7: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto Hashem, and He will have mercy upon him”

Brit Hadashah

Luke 15:18, 20: “I will arise and go to my father … And he arose, and came to his father.” The parable of the lost son acts out teshuvah: he turns around and walks home.

Jewish tradition

Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 2:2: repentance means that the sinner abandons the sin, puts it out of his thoughts, and resolves in his heart never to do it again.
b. Pesachim 54a: repentance is one of the seven things created before the world, so the way back was prepared before anyone strayed.

Study question 3

When Yeshua and the prophets called people to repent, did they mean a new way of thinking or a new way of living?

Answer: A new way of living. Teshuvah includes a change of mind, but it is proven by a change of behavior. The prophets and Yeshua looked for changed deeds, not only changed opinions.

Tanakh

Jonah 3:10: “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way”

Brit Hadashah

Luke 3:8: “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance”
Luke 3:10–14: when the crowds ask Yochanan (John) “What shall we do then?”, he answers with actions: share your coat and your food, collect no more than is owed, do no violence, and be content with your wages.

Jewish tradition

m. Ta’anit 2:1: on a public fast day the elder reminds the people that Scripture does not say God saw the sackcloth and fasting of Nineveh, but “God saw their works.”
Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 2:1: complete repentance is when a person meets the same chance to sin, could do it, and holds back because he has repented, not out of fear or weakness.

Thinking about it

How is changing what you believe different from changing what you do?

Answer: A person can change an opinion and go on living exactly the same way. A change of behavior can be seen. Right belief matters, because right action grows out of it, but teshuvah is not finished until it shows up in what we do. Yeshua’s parable of the two sons makes the point: the son who said “I will not” but then went to work did his father’s will, and the son who said “I go, sir” but stayed home did not.

Tanakh

Ezekiel 18:30: “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.”

Brit Hadashah

Matthew 21:31: “Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first.”
James 2:18: “I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

Jewish tradition

m. Avot 1:17: Shimon son of Rabban Gamliel taught that study is not the main thing; the deed is.
m. Avot 3:9: Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa taught that when a person’s deeds are greater than his wisdom, his wisdom endures.

Focus Section 2

The Kingdom of Heaven

Study question 1

What are some things people often mistake “the kingdom of heaven” for?

Answer: It is not heaven, the afterlife or Paradise, the unseen spiritual world, Hashem’s general rule over everything, the Holy Spirit, a religion, or a church or any other institution. Some of those ideas are true in their own place, but none of them is what Yeshua meant by the kingdom.

Tanakh

Daniel 2:44: “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed”. It is set up on earth, in place of earthly kingdoms.

Brit Hadashah

Matthew 4:17 and Mark 1:15: the same sermon is called “the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew and “the kingdom of God” in Mark. “Heaven” is a reverent way of saying “God,” as in “Father, I have sinned against heaven” (Luke 15:18).
Acts 1:6: “Master, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” After the resurrection the disciples still expected a kingdom for Israel, and Yeshua corrected only their question about timing (Acts 1:7).

Jewish tradition

m. Berakhot 2:2: saying the Shema is called “accepting the yoke of the kingdom of heaven” (ol malchut shamayim). In Jewish speech the phrase means Hashem’s reign, not a place.

Study question 2

What is the kingdom of heaven, according to the prophets and Yeshua?

Answer: Hashem’s promised kingdom on earth: the Messianic Era, when Hashem’s anointed King reigns from Jerusalem. It is literal and physical. The prophets describe peace among the nations, the exiles of Israel gathered home, the knowledge of Hashem filling the earth, and the righteous raised from the dead.

Tanakh

Isaiah 2:4: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
Zechariah 14:9: “And Hashem shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall Hashem be one, and His name one.”

Brit Hadashah

Matthew 6:10: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 8:11: “Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Avraham, and Yitzchak, and Yaakov, in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jewish tradition

The Kaddish: asks Hashem to establish His kingdom “in your lifetime and in your days.”
Aleinu: looks forward to the day when the world is perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty (letaken olam bemalchut Shaddai).
Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 11:1: King Messiah will restore the kingdom of David, build the Temple and gather the dispersed of Israel.

Study question 3

Why is the news of the coming kingdom not good news for everyone?

Answer: Because the kingdom brings a final judgment, and the wicked who refuse to repent will not enter it. Everyone will answer for the deeds of his or her life. For those who will not turn, the day brings judgment instead of reward.

Tanakh

Amos 5:18: “Woe unto you that desire the day of Hashem! to what end is it for you? the day of Hashem is darkness, and not light.”
Malachi 4:1–2: “All the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble … But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings”

Brit Hadashah

Matthew 7:21: “Not every one that saith unto me, Master, Master, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

Jewish tradition

The High Holy Day Amidah (U’vchen): prays for the day when all wickedness vanishes like smoke, when Hashem removes the rule of arrogance from the earth.
m. Avot 4:22: the living will be judged, “and know that everything is according to the reckoning.”

Thinking about it

Some say the kingdom has already arrived. What tells us it is still in the future?

Answer: The signs the prophets gave have not happened yet. Nations still go to war, the exiles of Israel are not all gathered, there is no Temple, the knowledge of Hashem does not fill the earth, and the dead have not been raised. And Yeshua still teaches us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.”

Tanakh

Isaiah 11:9: “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of Hashem, as the waters cover the sea.”

Brit Hadashah

Acts 3:21: “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Yeshua waits in heaven until that restoration.

Jewish tradition

b. Berakhot 34b: Shmuel taught that the days of the Messiah will differ from this world in that Israel will no longer be ruled by foreign kingdoms. That has not yet happened.
Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 11:4: a king of David’s line who rebuilds the Temple and gathers the dispersed of Israel is certainly the Messiah. Those events are still ahead.

Focus Section 3

Is at Hand

Study question 1

What warning did every one of the prophets give Israel?

Answer: Repent, because the Day of Hashem is coming. All the prophets called Israel to turn back before Hashem’s judgment and His kingdom arrive.

Tanakh

Joel 2:12–13: “Turn ye even to Me with all your heart … And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Hashem your God: for He is gracious and merciful”
Zechariah 1:3: “Turn ye unto Me, saith Hashem of hosts, and I will turn unto you”
Malachi 4:5: “Behold, I will send you Eliyahu the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Hashem”

Brit Hadashah

Luke 1:17: “He shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Eliyahu, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children”. Yochanan the Immerser stands at the end of that prophetic line.

Jewish tradition

Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 7:5: all the prophets commanded repentance, and Israel will be redeemed only through repentance.

Study question 2

Why did the message of Yochanan and Yeshua carry such urgency?

Answer: Because they said the kingdom was “at hand”: near, about to begin. The prophets had said the kingdom was coming; Yochanan and Yeshua said its moment had arrived and the Messiah was already present. The time to repent was now.

Tanakh

Psalm 95:7–8: “To day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart”

Brit Hadashah

Mark 1:15: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Matthew 3:10: “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees”

Jewish tradition

b. Sanhedrin 98a: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asks the Messiah when he will come, and is told “Today.” Eliyahu explains: today, “if ye will hear His voice” (Psalm 95:7).
b. Yoma 86b: repentance is great, because it brings the redemption near.

Study question 3

What did they say people must do to enter the kingdom?

Answer: Repent: confess your sins, ask Hashem for forgiveness, and start living a godly life right away, bearing fruit that shows the change.

Tanakh

Ezekiel 18:32: “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith Hashem Elohim: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Brit Hadashah

Matthew 3:6: “And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.”
Matthew 3:8: “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance”

Jewish tradition

b. Sanhedrin 97b: Rav taught that all the calculated dates for the redemption have passed, and now it depends only on repentance and good deeds.

Prayer

Psalm 139:23–24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Comment: This prayer of David is a good place to begin teshuvah. Before we can turn from sin, we have to see it, and some of it we cannot see without Hashem’s help. Praying it asks Hashem to examine us honestly and then to lead us. “The way everlasting” is the same path Yeshua calls the narrow way that leads to life.

Sources

Lamentations 3:40: “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Hashem.”
Matthew 7:14: “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Cheshbon hanefesh: the Jewish practice of taking an honest “account of the soul,” especially in the month of Elul and the Ten Days of Repentance, is this same self-examination.

Focus Section 4

God So Loved the World

Study question 1

Why does Hashem love Israel in a special way?

Answer: Because He loved the forefathers, Avraham (Abraham), Yitzchak (Isaac) and Yaakov (Jacob), and made covenant promises to them that He will keep for their children.

Tanakh

Deuteronomy 4:37: “And because He loved thy fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them”
Deuteronomy 7:8: “Because Hashem loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers”
Jeremiah 31:3: “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love”

Brit Hadashah

Romans 11:28–29: “As touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

Jewish tradition

The Amidah, first blessing: praises Hashem who “remembers the kindnesses of the fathers and brings a redeemer to their children’s children, for His Name’s sake, in love.”
Ahavat Olam: the evening blessing before the Shema begins, “With an everlasting love You have loved the house of Israel, Your people.”

Study question 2

How does Hashem feel toward the wicked?

Answer: He takes no pleasure in their death; He wants them to turn and live. His judgment is real, but what He desires is repentance.

Tanakh

Ezekiel 33:11: “As I live, saith Hashem Elohim, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”
Jonah 4:11: “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city …?”

Brit Hadashah

Luke 15:7: “Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

Jewish tradition

b. Megillah 10b: when the Egyptians drowned in the sea, the angels wanted to sing, and Hashem said, “The work of My hands is drowning in the sea, and you would sing?”
b. Megillah 31a: the book of Jonah, the story of Hashem’s mercy on a repentant Gentile city, is read every Yom Kippur afternoon.

Study question 3

How did Hashem show His love for the whole world through the Jewish people?

Answer: He sent His Son, Yeshua the Messiah, to Israel, so that through him life would come to Israel and then reach the whole world.

Tanakh

Genesis 12:3: “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Isaiah 49:6: “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.”

Brit Hadashah

1 John 4:9: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
John 4:22: “Salvation is of the Jews.”

Jewish tradition

b. Sukkah 52a: the Talmud applies Psalm 2:7–8 to the Messiah son of David: “Thou art My Son … Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.” The King sent to Israel receives the nations as well.

Thinking about it

How does Hashem’s love for Israel connect to His love for everyone?

Answer: His love for Israel is the doorway through which His love reaches the world. Hashem chose Avraham so that all families of the earth would be blessed, and He sent the Messiah first to Israel so that the message could go out from Israel to everyone. His love is particular and universal at once, like a parent who loves each child in a unique way without loving the others any less.

Tanakh

Zechariah 8:23: “Ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.”

Brit Hadashah

Romans 3:29: “Is He the God of the Jews only? is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also”
Romans 1:16: “To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Jewish tradition

m. Avot 3:14: Rabbi Akiva taught: beloved is every human being, created in the image of God; and beloved are Israel, who are called children of the All-Present.

Focus Section 5

That Whosoever Believeth in Him

Study question 1

When the Torah says Israel “believed” Moshe (Moses), what does that mean?

Answer: It means they trusted that Hashem had sent him and accepted his authority, so they followed his word. It had nothing to do with whether Moshe existed.

Tanakh

Exodus 14:31: “And the people feared Hashem, and believed Hashem, and His servant Moshe.”
Exodus 19:9: “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.”

Brit Hadashah

John 5:46: “For had ye believed Moshe, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.”

Jewish tradition

Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael on Exodus 14:31: whoever believes in the faithful shepherd is considered to believe in the One who spoke and the world came into being.

Study question 2

How is believing that Yeshua is real, or that he died for you, different from accepting his authority over your life?

Answer: The first only asks us to agree with an idea; the second asks us to obey. Believing in Yeshua means trusting that Hashem sent him, accepting his message, and doing what he teaches.

Tanakh

Deuteronomy 18:18–19: “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth … whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.”

Brit Hadashah

James 2:19: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
Luke 6:46: “And why call ye me, Master, Master, and do not the things which I say?”
Matthew 17:5: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

Jewish tradition

b. Shabbat 88a: the sages praise Israel for saying at Sinai “we will do” before “we will hear” (na’aseh v’nishma, Exodus 24:7): commitment to obey comes first.

Study question 3

In biblical Hebrew, what does it mean to do something “in someone’s name”?

Answer: It means to act under that person’s authority or on his behalf, as his representative. So believing “in the name” of Yeshua means trusting his authority.

Tanakh

1 Samuel 17:45: “I come to thee in the name of Hashem of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel”
1 Samuel 25:9: “And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David”

Brit Hadashah

Acts 4:7: “By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?”
John 3:18: “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Jewish tradition

m. Berakhot 5:5: a person’s agent is like the person himself (shelucho shel adam kemoto).
m. Avot 2:12: let all your deeds be done for the sake of Heaven, literally “for the name of Heaven” (l’shem shamayim).

Thinking about it

A police officer orders you to raise your hands. What matters more: believing the officer exists, or doing what he says?

Answer: Doing what he says. Recognizing someone’s authority means obeying it. The centurion who came to Yeshua understood this: he knew what it meant to be under authority and to give orders, and he trusted Yeshua’s word to be carried out.

Tanakh

1 Samuel 15:22: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

Brit Hadashah

Matthew 8:9: “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth”

Jewish tradition

m. Avot 2:4: Rabban Gamliel taught: make His will your will.

Focus Section 6

Should Not Perish

Study question 1

Why will the present physical world not last?

Answer: Because it is perishable by nature. Like an ice sculpture that melts away in the spring sun, everything made of matter wears out. Only what Hashem renews will last forever.

Tanakh

Isaiah 51:6: “The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment … but My salvation shall be for ever”
Psalm 102:26: “They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment”

Brit Hadashah

1 John 2:17: “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Jewish tradition

m. Avot 4:16: this world is like a corridor before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the corridor so that you may enter the banquet hall.

Study question 2

What does being “born again” to a second life mean?

Answer: It means being raised from the dead at the final judgment into immortal, everlasting life. The resurrection is a second birth.

Tanakh

Isaiah 26:19: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust”
Ezekiel 37:12: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves”

Brit Hadashah

Matthew 19:28: “In the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory”. The Greek word is palingenesia, literally “rebirth.”
1 Peter 1:3: “Hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead”

Jewish tradition

Elohai Neshamah: in the morning blessings we thank Hashem for the soul He gave us, which He will one day take from us and restore to us in the time to come.
The Amidah, second blessing: praises Hashem every day as mechayeh hametim, “who gives life to the dead.”

Study question 3

What is the opposite of that second life?

Answer: The second death: condemnation at the final judgment, cut off from the life of the World to Come.

Our Statement of Faith teaches that the judgment of the wicked is real and serious, while the exact nature of that final judgment is not fully revealed and need not be taught dogmatically.

Tanakh

Psalm 1:6: “For Hashem knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

Brit Hadashah

Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power”
Revelation 2:11: “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”

Jewish tradition

Targum Onkelos on Deuteronomy 33:6: “Second death” is a Jewish expression found in the Aramaic Targums: “Let Reuven live in the life of the world, and not die the second death.”
Targum Yonatan on Isaiah 22:14: this sin will not be forgiven “until you die the second death.”

Thinking about it

What does it look like to “do truth” and “come to the light” (John 3:21)?

Answer: To do truth is to live out what is true: to obey Hashem’s commandments and Yeshua’s teaching in daily life. To come to the light is to stop hiding, letting our lives be seen and examined so that it is clear our deeds were done with Hashem. This is the narrow path of repentance in practice.

Tanakh

Proverbs 6:23: “For the commandment is a lamp; and the Torah is light”
Isaiah 2:5: “O house of Yaakov, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Hashem.”

Brit Hadashah

John 3:21: “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Jewish tradition

m. Avot 1:18: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel taught that the world stands on three things: justice, truth and peace.

Focus Section 7

But Have Everlasting Life

Study question 1

What does “everlasting life” mean in the Bible?

Answer: Life in the resurrection of the dead: being raised in an immortal body for the World to Come. It is not simply a soul going to heaven.

Tanakh

Daniel 12:2: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” This is the first time the Bible uses the phrase “everlasting life” (chayei olam), and it is about the resurrection.

Brit Hadashah

John 6:40: “Every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jewish tradition

m. Sanhedrin 10:1: all Israel has a share in the World to Come, but one who says there is no resurrection of the dead has no share.
Rambam’s Thirteen Principles: the thirteenth principle is faith in the resurrection of the dead.

Study question 2

What happens to a person’s soul at death, and what happens at the resurrection?

Answer: At death the body returns to the dust and “sleeps,” while the soul of the faithful goes to be with Hashem. At the resurrection the soul is returned to the body and the whole person rises. The main point is that everlasting life comes at the resurrection, not at the moment of death.

Where Benei Avraham stands: we agree that the souls of the faithful go to be with Hashem at death. When Scripture and our Statement of Faith call death “sleep,” that describes the body resting in the dust until the resurrection; it does not mean the soul is absent from Hashem.

Tanakh

Ecclesiastes 12:7: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
Daniel 12:2: “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake”. It is the body that sleeps in the dust.

Brit Hadashah

Philippians 1:23: “Having a desire to depart, and to be with Messiah; which is far better”
Luke 23:43: “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
John 11:11: “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.”

Jewish tradition

b. Shabbat 152b: teaches that the souls of the righteous are kept beneath the Throne of Glory until the resurrection.
Elohai Neshamah: in the morning blessings we thank Hashem for the soul He gave us, which He will take from us and restore to us in the time to come.

Study question 3

Why are the wicked raised from the dead too?

Answer: For judgment. All the dead will stand before Hashem to be judged by their deeds. The righteous rise to everlasting life; the wicked rise to shame and condemnation.

Tanakh

Ecclesiastes 12:14: “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

Brit Hadashah

John 5:28–29: “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
Acts 24:15: “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”

Jewish tradition

m. Avot 4:22: those who are born will die, the dead will live again, and the living will be judged.
b. Sanhedrin 91a–b: a lame man and a blind man together stole fruit from a king’s orchard, and each blamed the other. The king set the lame man on the blind man’s shoulders and judged them together. So Hashem returns the soul to the body and judges them together.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, plow up the hard places in my heart. Keep Your word from being choked by thorns, take away whatever hardens me against You, and make me good ground that bears fruit for the life of the World to Come.

Comment: This is the lesson’s closing prayer in our own words. It draws on Jeremiah’s call to break up hard ground and circumcise the heart, and on Yeshua’s parable of the sower, where only the good ground bears a crop. Like every prayer Yeshua taught, it is addressed to the Father.

Sources

Jeremiah 4:3–4: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to Hashem, and take away the foreskins of your heart”
Matthew 13:23: “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit”
Matthew 6:9: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.”
The Amidah, fifth blessing: asks, “Bring us back, our Father, to Your Torah,” and ends, “Blessed are You, Hashem, who desires repentance.”

Scripture quotations follow the King James Version, with Hashem for the Divine Name (LORD), Torah for “the law,” Hebrew names (Moshe, Yochanan, Avraham), Messiah for “Christ,” and Master for “Lord” when it refers to Yeshua. Abbreviations: m. = Mishnah, b. = Babylonian Talmud, Rambam = Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah. Rabbinic sources are given in short translation or paraphrase.

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