Raising The Dead There are no less than four people in the Bible who ever raised the dead to life. This list is comprised of Elijah, Elisha, Peter, and Jesus. Some might point out that I missed Paul raising Eutychus from the dead but if you examine the account in Acts 20:9-10 it’s not as clear of a case of raising someone from the dead as one may think but I don’t want to digress nor distract from the main thrust of this writing today because I want to look at the verses surrounding the raising of the dead that involve Elijah, Elisha, and Peter and point out a similarity. See if you can notice it as you read through these passages. 1King 17:21-22 Then he (Elijah) stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, O LORD my God, let this childs life come into him again. (22) And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 2Kings 4:32-34 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. (33) So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD. (34) Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. Acts 9:39-40 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. (40) But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. All miracles indeed and amazingly rare accounts of the dead being brought back to life, but now I want to look at the three accounts of Jesus raising the dead back to life and then point out what is different when Jesus raises someone from the grave. Luke 7:12-15 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. (13) And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep. (14) Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, arise. (15) And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Luke 8:52-55 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping. (53) And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. (54) But taking her by the hand he called, saying, Child, arise. (55) And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. Luke 11: 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” When man (rare though it be) was the instrument of resurrection do you note what happened in each case before the dead came to life? What did these men of God do? They prayed. They cried out to God for they knew that in themselves they had no power to raise the dead to life. The power to give life came from Him and they were simply instruments He used to accomplish this. Look quickly again at what happens when Jesus raises the dead to life and by whose authority He does so: And he said, ……………, I say to you, arise. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, …………., arise. He cried with a loud voice, “…………., come forth!” Do you see it?! As amazing as it was that Elijah, Elisha and Peter had the faith to believe that the dead could be raised back to life they still had no authority over death in themselves, but Jesus did. Since Jesus IS Life there is no greater authority He goes to than Himself to raise the dead. He did not pray asking for God to bring the dead back to life for He WAS God and held in His Hand the key that opens the grave! 1Corinthians 15:(55) O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus went to the cross He carried our sin, died our death, and then defeated death by rising from the grave after three days declaring His authority over it. Do you know of the authority over death that this Redeemer named Jesus has? Have you ever worshipped Him as the One who gave you life…. or is able to? I left the names out in the three accounts above for you to put your own in for there are many who are either grave dwellers now; are living like grave dwellers; or have been convinced by the flesh and the devil that’s all they’ll ever be, but that’s not true. Bow before the One who commands the dead to arise and demands that the decaying emerge from the tomb for HE….IS…. LIFE! You are loved, Shon Bruellman
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 14:05:02 +0000
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