RESURRECTION AND LIFE. I AM JOHN 11

A prominent woman theologian on the ABC (The Australian Broadcasting Commission) challenged the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. An evangelical Anglican from our city church graciously, yet vigorously refuted her false claims. With his legal background and knowledge of God’s Word, he presented the glorious truth that

‘Christ was risen from the dead.’ Hence this brief study.

Jesus said to them plainly, ’Lazarus is dead’. ( v14 ) ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep. Death of the physical body is sleep.

Weeping naturally followed the death of this brother. ‘Mary is going to the tomb to weep there. (v31) ‘, ‘The Jews who came with her were also weeping’ (v33) The Son of God groaned in the spirit and was troubled’. Indeed, our Lord also wept, as recorded in the shortest verse in the Bible. Salty tears stained His gentle, strong face.

God’s dear Son, as Deity, sobbed at Lazarus’ death, the last enemy He would later destroy. Sympathetic Jews observed, " See how He loved Him’, even as the tears flowed. Christ showed His Godhead and perfect humanity in this amazing event. .

‘Jesus, groaning within Himself, came to the tomb’. (v38), reminding us ‘that the whole creation groans and travails together, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of the body. (Rom 8:33) Christ over-ruled at Bethany as a promise of that final resurrection Day, when the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Martha, Lazarus’ sister, argued, ’ Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead for four days’. His body had begun to disintegrate, all the structures decompose, and every cell breaks down. Humanly, nothing could be done for Lazarus.

‘I am the resurrection and the life’, Jesus confided to Martha, as He performed this miracle. He transformed a corrupt body; He created a new epoch; He was as always a living Person. He opened a reservoir of hope for every grieving believer. .

Let’s see how Christ worked out this dramatic change in Lazarus’ life.

His brain had controlled all the functions of his body until death destroyed trillions of nerve cells. Christ reconstituted each cell with its electrical charge, restoring continuity to the entire brain and spinal cord function of Lazarus. How much Christ will do when He restores the headship of His church in the Rapture and the mighty bodily Resurrection. We must not limit our omnipotent Lord by our poor faith.

Every cell of his decomposed heart was restored to normal form and function, beating again at Christ’s command at 60-80 per minute, 5,000 per hour and 120,000 per day. That adds to 50 million heart beats per year for every year that Lazarus lived. The vagal nerve controlling the heart function again. No wonder the Jews wanted to kill Lazarus, whose every second was indisputably a living miracle.

Then the wonder of 4-5 million red blood cells and 5-8,000 white blood cells for each millilitre of blood, that were created and mobilised to maintain oxygen for every cell of the body and for its defences, and gather the carbon dioxide for exhaling through the lungs . The bone marrow reproduced red and white blood cells again.

Our Lord perfectly restored lungs, abdominal organs, reproductive and excretory organs and muscular activity. Doesn’t that give a new sense of the miracle of Christ as the Resurrection and the Life? ‘He makes all things new’.

God’s honor was at stake, for Jesus said, "Did not I say to you that, if you would believe, you should see the glory of God’. (v 40) The Father brought about Lazarus’ bodily resurrection and restored life through the command of our Lord Jesus. All degenerated tissues were renewed and functioned again. Only the faithful can believe. Let’s celebrate the almightiness of our God. We have been timidly silent too long.

‘Jesus lifted up His eyes heavenwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard Me’, after they had taken away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying’. He added, ‘And I know that you always hear Me, but because of the people standing by, I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me’. (v42) Powerful Prayer preceded this life-recovery. .

The eerie silence of the cemetery shattered ‘when He cried with a loud voice,

‘Lazarus, come forth.’. The Lord limited this miracle to one man, contrasting with the marvellous event when He comes again in the general resurrection, when all shall hear His voice, the just and the unjust. And all shall respond, and come forth

‘And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth’. (v44) Lazarus was alive again. His eyes beamed, His face shone, His brain functioned, his heart beat, his lungs filled, his muscles shuffled his bound limbs. Surely one of the most exciting Bible truths..

"Loose him, and let him go’, the Lord commanded. The stinking graveclothes were torn from him. He could now wash and be clothed properly. He was alive again. He was free to enjoy new life in Christ Jesus without the stench of the rotting, old death. Rags. That is another delightful story of restored freedom and godliness.

What lessons do we gain from this mighty act of God’s dear Son?

As we abide in Christ, so His risen and glorified life restores all that we had lost in our fallen and wayward walk. He prepares us for the ultimate grandeur of resurrection

If our Lord were Resurrection and life to Lazarus, how much more will He be to every member of His church, the Bride, when He raptures or claims her at His second Coming. The resurrection of the body of every individual saint is assured by His victory with Lazarus. Perfect restoration of the body allows no prostheses of eye lens (after cataract extraction), of knee or hip replacement, of dentures, of heart valves, or for aortic or carotid aneurysms. While this staggers our understanding, it does not restrict our Omnipotent Lord.

In raising His blood-bought children, He breaks open the soil, raises the body as incorruptible, powerful, glorious and spiritual. He reconstitutes us in His likeness. His Holy Spirit energises us, whereas previously, the life of the flesh was in the blood.

In making all things new, He grants us a new voice, to join in the chorus, ‘He has redeemed us by His blood’.