Raising the Dead

Death entered the world through Adam and remains mankind’s most insurmountable problem. It is appointed that every person will physically die. There is no solution for that.

The Bible records a very few special cases in which God supernaturally intervened so that a dead person was brought back to life. John 11 records one of these cases.

Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, became very sick and died. Jesus purposely put off His arrival until Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus specifically wanted to use Lazarus’ death to reveal His identity and offer a challenge by stating, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NASU)

The physical raising of Lazarus provides a marvelous illustration of spiritual resurrection. The Bible teaches that the rebellion in Eden brought spiritual death as well as physical death. Each of us is born in our trespasses in sin. Each of us is born spiritually dead. Each of us has no life and thus is in need of a divine imparting of life.

The record of Lazarus’ resurrection tells us that the sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus requesting that He come to Lazarus. We ought to send word to Jesus concerning the spiritual sickness of our friends and loved ones (prayer). Jesus said that Lazarus’ sickness would not end in death but was for the glory of God. Resurrection of the spiritually dead brings glory to God. This spiritual resurrection requires a belief that Jesus is the “resurrection and the life.”

Jesus asked the sisters where they had laid Lazarus. Jesus asks us today where we have laid those whom we desire Him to resurrect. He is asking what type of ministering relationship we have developed with this person. In other words, Jesus expects us to have done what we can in preparation for that which only He can do.

Next, Jesus gives a command which requires us to answer a penetrating question. Jesus commanded the bystanders to remove the stone which blocked the exit from the tomb. The stone seems to represent stumbling stones. It further seems that the stumbling stones are not found in the behavior of the dead person but rather in the behavior of the living bystanders. We ought to regularly examine our lives to see if there is anything in our life that would prevent a lost person from responding to the call of the Savior.

Now that we have done all that we can do in this process and our sin has been dealt with, Jesus is ready to do that which only He can do. He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:43 NASU) We ought to do as Christ commands: pray, build relationships, and remove stumbling blocks. The rest is up to God. There will be no salvation until Christ calls.

Now that Christ has done His work, some additional responsibilities arise for us. Christ commanded the bystanders to “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:44 NASU)

Do not lose sight of the fact that Lazarus had been dead for four days. Lazarus’ sister had declared that he surely must stink after four days. Certainly, taking off the grave wrappings was a frightening and dirty task. We must not expect that the new believer in Christ will emerge from spiritual death clean, smelling good, and free from sin. We must be willing to undertake the long-term process of loosing them from the trappings of death.

You can email Pastor Ellison at [email protected].