Getting Saved

The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." (John 11:12)

I found some interesting confirmation when I looked up this word 'recover' in the original. It is the same word that is often translated 'saved' throughout the New Testament. All of the following verses and many more use this same word.

Mt 1:21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Mt 9:21 for she was saying to herself, "If I only touch His garment, I will get well."

Mt 18:11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

Mt 19:25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?"

Mt 24:13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

Mr 5:23 and implored Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live."

Mr 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Lu 8:12 Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

Lu 9:24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

Lu 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Lu 23:35 And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One."

Joh 3:17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Joh 12:27 ¶ Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

Joh 12:47 "If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

Ac 2:21 and it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Ac 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Ac 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

What this confirms for me is the fact that the term 'saved' has far more to do with restoring, healing, returning to original condition rather than the narrow modern notion of getting into heaven. The way people today use the term 'getting saved' has largely distorted the original meaning of the word and has also stripped it of the far greater significance of the kind of life-transformation that God intends for all of us to experience in salvation.

I think it is clear that the disciples did not have in mind that if Lazarus had fallen asleep the way we think of sleep, that this was good indication that he would be 'saved in heaven'. They were obviously thinking about the fact that when a sick person falls into a good sleep it usually indicates that the sickness is leaving them and they are on the mend to recovery.

But rather than this being a completely different application of the word, the Bible uses this word interchangeably with statements related to salvation because it is a perfect example of what God wants to do in our lives right now, not just sometime in the future somewhere else. God not only wants to heal our bodies as is made clear many times by the use of this word in the stories of Jesus, but far more He wants to heal our souls and restore us into harmonious fellowship with Himself and each other so that we can be safe to bring to His home to live with Him in much closer proximity.