Jesus raised lazarus from the dead
Because deep down all of us know we are sinners who are guilty before a good and righteous and just and holy God. And it says we are all guilty, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death” - eternal death, as opposed to eternal life (Romans 6:23). What makes death eternally destructive and damning? It’s our sin. The word goes on: “The sting of death is sin.” The scorpion-sting of death is sin. The scorpion-sting of John Levy’s death is gone. Where is it? Where’s the sting? It’s gone. “O death, where is your sting?” In other words, the scorpion, venomous, destructive, damning effect of death is missing. The apostle Paul lays it out for us to understand. How did that happen? What does that even mean? Sin Damns Us All Death - John Levy’s death - was swallowed up in victory when Jesus raised Jesus from the dead as the God-man with all authority in the universe never to die again. Death was not swallowed up in victory when the widow’s son or the ruler’s daughter was raised. (1 Corinthians 15:54–57)ĭeath was not swallowed up in victory when Lazarus came out of the tomb. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. The reason this one-of-a-kind resurrection makes all the difference for John Levy is because it followed and it vindicated a one-of-a-kind death. It did everything it needed to do! But simply being one of a kind is not the way this resurrection makes all the difference in the world to John Levy, whose body lies before us. That had never happened before, has never happened since, and will never happen again in the history of the world. It’s not just because this resurrection was one of a kind, which it was - the eternal, divine Son of God, with the authority of God the Father raising himself from the dead - that’s one of a kind. Why is that? Why is it that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the only resurrection that does John Levy any good at all? “Jesus came - sovereign and sinless - to take our place under the judgment of God.” The fact that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after four days would have done John Levy no good whatsoever, if Jesus had not raised Jesus from the dead. None of the other resurrections, none of the other miracles of healing or exorcisms or multiplied loaves and fish, or stilled waves and wind - none of them would do us any good if Jesus had not raised himself from the dead by the authority of his Father. The scorpion-sting of death was removed by the resurrection of Jesus. Why is it important to remember that Jesus raised not just the widow’s son, and the ruler’s daughter, and Lazarus from the dead, but also himself with the authority of God the Father? It’s important because the scorpion-sting of death was not removed by the raising of Lazarus, or the ruler’s daughter, or the widow’s son. Destroy this body, and in three days, I will raise it up. So Jesus says in John 2:19: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” And John adds, “He was speaking about the temple of his body” (John 2:21). has given all judgment to the Son.” So the Son has authority to raise from the dead whomever he will, including himself. Here it is again in John 5:21–22: “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. This charge I have received from my Father.” God the Father gave Jesus the authority to take up his life again from the grave where his body lay dead. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. We know this because he said in John 10:18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. But it is also true that Jesus himself was acting to bring about his own resurrection. It’s true that the New Testament teaches that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 6:4 Acts 2:32). And he raised himself from the dead after he had been crucified. He raised Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha in Bethany after he had been dead four days (John 11:44). He raised the 12-year-old daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue (Mark 5:42).
He raised the widow’s son in the village of Nain (Luke 7:15).
When Jesus was on the earth, he raised four people from the dead.