Lazarus

The Significance

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazʹa·rus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethʹa·ny was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary kept sitting at home. 21 Martha then said to Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Yet even now I know that whatever you ask God for, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.”

John 11

I begin here with John 11. For those who doubt the veracity of Jesus as the Son of God let this sink in.

Jesus already knew that His friend, Lazarus, had died. Jesus referred to his death as “sleep,” not death and this is not the only time Jesus made this reference to death as we understand it

Jesus waited four days after Lazarus had died before going to the sister of Lazarus. Why? To take one we would classify as dead, the odor strong to give evidence of death, and bring him back to life. This Jesus did and Lazarus whose body was corrupted in death. Walked out of the funeral cave as a complete and vibrant man. No corruption left because Jesus has the power of resurrection and Jesus will use this power after the End Times to resurrect the faithful who have died. And, yes, Lazarus did believe that Jesus was the Son of God, which is why Jesus did what He did, for proof of His power over death.

It matters not what shape our corpse is in. If we are faithful, we will be restored in a world of beauty with Jesus as our king. This is a promise and God or Jesus promise nothing without fulfilling their promises. Imagine hearing Jesus say to us,”Rise from your sleep.”

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