Arise!

The Bible fascinates us with stories of the dead rising.  Naturally, they are few in number and in each case, there seems to be no particular reason for the miracle except the Lord or His apostle was moved to do so.  Very odd.  But actually not so rare, given modern day miracles.

There are many great men and women who die who are not raised. Stephen, the first martyr comes to mind. Of course, if he was raised he would not have been a martyr. He was stoned to death (Acts 7). The Apostle Paul participated and witnessed the stoning and most believe it had an influence on his eventual conversion.  In fact, in my opinion, the death of Stephen is more significant than the return to life of other Bible persons.   Even those raised from the dead eventually died again.  But the legacy of Stephen remains.

Most everyone in the Bible eventually dies. Jesus died and was resurrected (not to be confused with merely rising from the dead). There are Old Testament cases where folk just wandered off to heaven without dying. Enoch walked with God. “By faith, Enoch was translated”. (Hebrews11:5)

All four Gospel writers, including Luke who also wrote the Book of Acts, include at least one story of raising the dead.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the story of the synagogue official named, Jairus, coming to Jesus to report his 12 year old daughter is ill and at the point of death. Jesus heads her way, but stops to heal others who are sick. Neighbors come to Jairus to tell him not to bother the Master because his daughter has just died. But Jesus is moved with compassion for the man and enters the house with Peter, James and John. He says “the child is not dead, but is asleep”.

The Bible records the laughter of the crowd, unaware of who they are dealing with. “Talitha kum” is Aramaic for “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” And she did. They were completely astounded.

The most famous and most preached on miracle is the raising of Lazarus in John 11. He had been dead for some time.  Mary and Martha were his sisters.   The Bible says Jesus "loved" Lazareth.  I have been to Bethany several times.   I have walked down into Lazarus' tomb.  It goes deep into solid stone.  Jesus said, "Lazarus, come forth", and he did.   Amazing. 

The widow of Nain had just one son. When he died he was placed in a coffin and a funeral procession began. Jesus was there and touched his coffin, saying “arise”. (Luke 7). In all these cases, it seems Jesus was moved to do something special on the spur of the moment. They were not planned and perhaps later He would wonder if He did the right thing. But He did it.

Peter learned from Christ

In Acts 9, the story is recorded of a woman named Dorcas, also known as Tabitha, who died suddenly.   (Dorcas is the Greek version) She was well thought of in the community of Joppa and a person the new Christian community needed. Peter was nearby in Lydda. The disciples encouraged him to come and do something. He did. “Tabitha, arise” was all it took. The Bible says “she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up”.  We don't know much about why or how, but we know it happened.   I wish we knew more about Tabitha's later life...or the widow's son...or Lazarus.    But suffice it to say, they eventually died in peace.  

Certainly other cultures and religions have their similar stories. Many have tried to explain these mysteries. Without the benefit of modern medicine, who can say if they were really dead. Maybe Jesus and Peter had some kind of built in electric shock at their fingertips. Maybe the cold tomb in which Lazarus lay kept his body cool enough to be revived.

In most cases, the Lord told the people not to tell anyone what happened. Interestingly, none of them did. Otherwise you would be reading best sellers from Dorcas, Jairus and Lazarus. Amazingly, they seem to just go on with their lives. Changed for sure. And certainly with a new love for Jesus.