1 Cor 15:29-34 "Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why am I in peril every hour? I protest, brethren, by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals." Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame."
Commentary: This passage continues to baffle interpreters, since neither the form nor the meaning of this practice is familiar to us today. Perhaps living believers were receiving baptism for the sake of deceased persons, hoping its benefits would accrue to them in the afterlife (2 Macc 12:39-45). Another possibility, suggested by the verses 1 Cor 15:30-34, is that Paul is talking about people who endure a baptism of suffering for the sake of others who are physically or spiritually dead (Mark 10:38, Luke 12:50). Either way, Paul reasons that such baptisms are pointless apart from the belief in a future resurrection."
Mark 10:38 "But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the chalice that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism which which I am baptized?"
Commentary: Drinking the chalice is a reference to Jesus' forthcoming suffering. The term "with the baptism" is symbolic for immersion in trial and suffering. James and John will share in Jesus' cup and baptism as they encounter persecution in the early Church. The NT recalls the martyrdom of James in Acts 12:2 a he exile of John in Rev 1:9.
Luke 12:50 "I (Jesus) have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished!"
Commentary: A figure of Jesus' Passion, his baptism is when he will be immersed in suffering and death and will raise again to a new life.
2 Macc 12:39 - 45 "On the next day, as by the time it had become necessary, Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen and to bring them back to lie with their kinsmen in the sepulchers of their fathers. Then under the tunic of every one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was why these men had fallen. So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous Judge, who reveals the things that are hidden; and they turned to prayer, begging that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."
Commentary: Praying for the dead, a practice here attested by Jews over a century before Christ, became common in early Christianity as well. St. Augustine's treatise On the Care of the Dead begins by citing the Maccabees' intercessions for the dead in this passage, which he sees as corresponding with the Church's universal practice of the priest praying for the dead at the altar.
John 11:39-44 "Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" So they took aways the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, 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 bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth."
Commentary: Jesus prays for the dead man Lazarus and he lives.
Mark 5:39-42 "And when he had entered, he (Jesus) said to them, "Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping." Ad they laughed at him. But he put the all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, "Talitha cumi which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." And immediately the girl got up and walked; for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were overcome with amazement."
Commentary: Biblical writers often speak of "sleep" as a euphemism for biological death. Jesus prays for the dead girl that she might live.
Luke 7:12-15 "As he (Jesus) drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a a who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep" And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." Ad the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to this mother."
1 Kings 17:17-23 "After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!" And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber, where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, "O Lord my God have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, "O Lord my God, let this child's soul come into him again" And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother, and Elijah said, "See, your son lives."
Commentary: Elijah prays intensely for the dead man and the Lord hears him.
2 Tim 1:16-18 "May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day, and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus."
Commentary: Onesiphorus and his family may have lived in Ephesus (1:18). His diligent search for the imprisoned Paul was an expression of loyalty and courage, especially since Christians in Rome were at this time targets of fierce persecution (1:17). Some commentators infer that Onesiphorus died before 2 Timothy was written, since (1) Paul does not indicate that Onesiphorus is with him any longer; (2) he prays that the Lord will grant him mercy at the final Judgment (1:18); and (3) he asks Timothy to greet the household of Onesiphorus, but not Onesiphorus himself (2 Tim 4:19). If, in fact, Onesiphorus had died before Paul wrote this letter, then the apostle's prayer in 1:18 would be an early example of the Christian practice of praying for the dead.
Acts 9:39 - 41 "So Peter rose and went with them. And when he and come, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping, and showing coats and garments which Dorcus made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, rise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then calling the saints and widows he presented her alive. "
Commentary: Peter prays for the dead Dorcus and she rises from the dead.
Matt 10:8 "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demon."
Matt 11:5 "The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them."
Luke 7:22 "And he (Jesus) answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them."
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