Raising the Dead-A Gift of Miracle(s)
Jesus raised the dead. I was asked by a distant relative “Why in the world would you want to see the dead raised today”? Well, I can only say that if Jesus did it then we can. And if there is an opportunity to glorify the Lord, then I would like to see a dead person come to life. In fact, I have seen this gift of miracles manifest. I have witnessed the dead being raised and this miracle was confirmed by a medical doctor (he had badges).
However, I answered the distant relative by saying; “Well, God forbid that one of your children would die, but if that happened you might want to see God raise the dead”. We see this exact example in the case of the widow’s son at Nain that is found in Luke chapter 7. The widow’s son was raised from the dead.
Luke 7:11-15; Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many (Jesus had a lot more than the twelve disciples and He still does today) of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. (Some of these people who were with the widow were ‘professional mourners’). These paid professionals were paid to lament loudly as are some wokels today.
There is a lot of social significance in the fact that this woman was a widow and the dead that was raised was her only son. In this instance Jesus was moved by compassion as we see in verse 13. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.
When Jesus touched the coffin, He released the dunimas miracle working power and anointing of the Holy Spirit to release the gift of miracles for raising the dead. Jesus operated in the gift of miracles for raising the dead. This same gift is still available today. The issue is that we need to enter into the rest of the Lord (in waiting prayer in the Holy of Holies) and seek the Father’s will and direction for raising the dead.
This is a very similar wording that Jesus used to raise the young girl from the dead in Mark 5 and Luke 8. In this example we see the dead raise up at the word of the Lord (the healing word and the power of God though the anointing of the Holy Spirit) in verse 15. So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.
Dinner Conversation With The Dead
Did you ever wonder what the boy said at the moment he was raised from the dead? Perhaps he asked; “Where am I”? I have often wondered about these “grey” areas of scripture. Areas where the Father released the supernatural miracles of the Lord and the whole picture is not painted clearly. We just do not know every detail, no matter how much education or theology we have. What did people ask this boy a week later when the dust from this miracle had settled? What did his widowed mother ask the boy? I find it fascinating to ponder these things in my heart. This is also a great way to massage your faith for the miraculous to emerge in your life.
I have pondered the raising of the dead in my heart from time to time. What would it be like to sit at dinner with Lazarus or this previously dead son? (Gee, that has a familiar ring to it). I am sure that they were continuously asked a lot of religious questions. Questions like; “Where did you go to when you died. Did you see heaven”. Even inconsequential questions like; “were you cold”? I have often wondered what these people of this select group (those people raised from the dead) would have said in response to these questions. Perhaps these kinds of question s got old fast? This is something that you may wish to think about too because it will help to develop your ability to believe for the gift of miracles.
The Most Notable Miracle of the Raising of the Dead – Lazarus of Bethany
You know that a lot of Christians today do not believe in the fact that God still raises the dead, but He does. Some theologians are Cessationists and do not believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the gift of miracles for raising the dead are active today. These people believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not active today. I wonder if this grieves the Holy Spirit (Luke 12:10, Matthew 12:32). What does the Holy Spirit “feel” about this kind of rejection by people?
Anyway, what you ask is a Cessationists? Many powerless Christian denominations do not believe in the operation of the gifts of the Spirit (such as miracles and healings or any others). They preach and have doctrines that pronounce these gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for today. They believe that God has somehow changed. Cessationism is a doctrine that states that spiritual gifts such as miracles and healings ceased to manifest in the first century of the church in the times of the original Apostles. The testimony of Lazarus of Bethany has a lot of correlations to the modern-day church. I hope to bring a few of those correlations to the surface as I write.
Of course, most of these peeps (Cessationists or any nonbelievers) have never been involved in releasing a miracle but would possibly believe for one if one of their family members died. So that brings us back to Lazarus. Allow me to take some time to write about this supernatural miracle at length. I am going to look at the testimony of John and look closely at chapter 11. Here we go in John 11:1; Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
In these next few verses John gives us some insight to Lazarus of Bethany and his families importance to the earthly ministry of the Lord. (Jesus also has a heavenly ministry too). Let’s look at this information in John 11 verse 2- 4 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. (Many theologians believe that Mary was a former prostitute. I do not know, but you can ask her if you make heaven one day when you put off your earth suite [die]). 3 Therefore the sisters (Mary and Martha) sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” By the way, Mary and Martha also represent two distinct groups in the Body of Christ today. Selah. When Jesus hears this statement, He flips what is spoken out audibly. Jesus speaks life and not death all of the time. This is an important key for us to learn about our everyday words. After all the power of life and death is in the tongue (Proverbs 18;21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.) Jesus chose to speak life and not death over His friend and Mary’s brother Lazarus.
Speak Life
I submit to you that we need to retrain ourselves to speak life and not death with our words. Words have power. Look at what Jesus speaks out loud in verse 4. By the way, it is very important to speak out loud in the Kingdom of Heaven when releasing miracles and healings as the biblical and modern-day testimonies in this article have illustrated. On another note, your thoughts shout louder in heaven than your words.
Always remember the Lord knows what you are thinking. The Lord knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts (Revelation 2:23, Matthew 12:23, Luke 6:8). It is also true that at times the Lord allows His friends to know the thoughts and intents of men and women hearts of the peeps around them today as well. This is true whether your thoughts are in faith of thoughts of doubt and unbelief. What do you think about? In the next verse Jesus speaks and prophesies life over the situation and over Lazarus.
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5-6 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. What Lazarus sister Martha sees as an end Jesus sees an opportunity to glorify His Father. Jesus is ready to release the gift of miracles for raising the dead. Perhaps the Lord had seen the raising of Lazarus of Bethany from the dead in a vision as He rested in waiting prayer. Perhaps Jesus was moving in total obedience to those things that He had “seen” His Father doing. Jesus was a seer prophet.
Here is another interesting point in this testimony of the raising of Lazarus of Bethany from the dead. The previous verse said clearly that Jesus loved Lazarus. So why did the Lord tarry and not go immediately to pray for Lazarus of Bethany (Jesus stayed where He was instead). His disciples encouraged him to go in spite of apparent danger outlined in the next verse. 7 Then after this (apparently it was a couple of days ‘after this’) He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again. 8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
I love this! Jesus answers in verse 9 with a parable! Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 “But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” Today some ‘Marys’ walk-in light and some ‘Marthas’ walked in darkness. Then Jesus tells the disciples the true reason that He is waiting in Verse 11. These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
The disciples did not have a full revelation of the Kingdom or the power that the Lord Jesus was capable of releasing with His words and of the importance of obedience to the Father. After this Jesus makes a remarkable statement in Verse 15 after the disciples begin to speak a little Kingdom rhetoric. Look at verse 12; Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he (Lazarus) will get well.” This dynamic is further explained in John 11; 13,14: However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead”.
This section of scripture illustrates a few very important facts. One, nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). Two, the Lord does not see our circumstances the way that we see them. And in verse 15 Jesus teaches us plainly why He did this miracle in a delayed fashion. 15 “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.” This was most likely one of the reasons that Jesus stayed in the same place and took extra time before traveling to Bethany. He may have been thirsty too. Why don’t you ask Him if you make heaven?
That You May Believe
Don’t you just love the Apostle Thomas? It is important to mention that Thomas is called an Apostle. He is a lot like many peeps in the church today. Thomas is ready to just give up and die (so are many non-believing Christians today). Look at this amazing statement of no faith in verse 16. Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” What Thomas is saying here is ‘There is no hope! So, let’s just die too’. This passage sums up the attitudes of a lot of people in the world today (and the church too). Be careful what you speak out loud (Proverbs 18:21). The Lord wants for each of us to just believe Him.
Because Jesus has waited for a couple of days Lazarus was already starting to decompose in the tomb. The Lord planned it that way! Look at this in verse 17. So, when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. When Jesus arrived, He found that a lot of peeps had come from Jerusalem and other places to offer ritual mourning and lamentation with the sisters of Lazarus. Look at verse 18; Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. (We find Mary in a position of rest and trusting in the Lord despite the circumstances). Selah.
Never Give Up
Martha runs out to see Jesus. (Martha is not resting or trusting in the Lord). Remember Martha had witnessed Jesus work many miracles and even raise the dead. However, she does not get a miracle. No, she gets a prophesy from the Lord. (That happens to a lot of people today too). 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Martha possessed an increment of faith and belief, but at that moment her faith had passed away like her dead brother. Martha believed that it was too late for Lazarus. (Kind of like the man at the Pool of Bethesda). Don’t allow your faith and hope to die. Never give up on God because He never gives up on you! Never make excuses. (Like God does not heal anymore). None the less she declares words of hope in verse 22. “But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” (NKJV).
Why did Martha say, “even now”? Well, one reason may be because in her heart she thought it was too late for the miracle for her brother knowing that Lazarus had been dead for four days. You see it is much easier to raise the dead when they have not been dead too long or when the dead are ‘fresh’. Don’t ask me why? However, I am sure that there are still people around that can raise the dead (even if they have been dead for four days) at any time today (as led by the Spirit of God). I just know that this (it is much easier to raise the dead when they have not been dead too long or when the dead are ‘fresh’) is true for most of us today. There are most likely some believers on the earth that this idea does not hold true for. In verse 23 Jesus speaks to Martha about healing Lazarus saying, “Your brother will rise again.”
A Very Different Result
Martha has ( what I perceive as) a great religious response (like many of us would espouse today)! 24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Today we might well make a similar statement about a person who had been dead for four days: “They are in a better place now”. (That would be true if you were sure that the person who had died truly believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior). Jesus confirms Martha’s idea and then makes an astonishing statement in the next verse saying in verse 25; “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. Jesus makes this extraordinary statement in direct relationship to being dead. Jesus is speaking about both literal death and spiritual death. You do not have to die. You can have eternal life. If you are not “born from above” or ‘born again’ as the church calls it, please pray the prayer of salvation at the end of this article.
Jesus continues to lay out the path to eternal life in verse 26 saying; “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Martha answers the Lord and gives Jesus (what I believe is) a very religious and politically correct answer (in my opinion) in verse 27 saying; “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” Then Martha does the one thing that may have helped release the gift of miracles for Lazarus in the next verse. And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
Mary goes to the Lord and gets a very different result from Martha. We see this unfold in the next few verses starting in verse 30. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, (the professional mourners) when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” Mary did not do what the mourners expected. She went to the person who had the power to help her brother and raise him from the dead. Mary went to Jesus and worshiped him. Worship will release more from the King and the Kingdom of Heaven than a religious or politically correct statement will.
Look at verse 32-34; Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet (worshiped Jesus), saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Next, we see one of the most famous and misquoted verses in the bible. Verse 35 is not often taught or preached correctly in my opinion.
35 Jesus wept.
Why was Jesus crying? Was the Lord crying because Lazarus was dead? Probably not. Perhaps He was crying because of the people’s unbelief. In fact, the Lord may still be crying about this (people’s unbelief) today concerning our unbelief and Cessationists ideas? Selah. Look at verse 36. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” This would be the way that many would react today.
The Elim Denomination
I have known groups of believers who had gathered and prayed for one of their congregations who had died. They prayed for them to be raised from the dead. They prayed for a few days until the body began to smell like Lazarus. Although, the congregation prayed for the dead person they did not rise from the dead. Was this because the Lord does not raise the dead today? Was the fact that the dead person did not rise up because the Lord no longer releases the gifts of miracles or healings today. Or perhaps because those gifts passed away with the apostles? No.
Perhaps it was simply not Gods will for the person to be raised up from the dead. I met an evangelist in London (2009) who was a very seasoned minister and elder of the Elim denomination. Over tea he had told me (after I bragged about ministering in Tanzania) that He had preached in that nation in 1954. That was before I was born! He had said that he had a real problem in Tanzania back then. The Elim churches in Africa were raising too many people from the dead!
The evangelist had to place limits on who the church elders could pray for to be raised from the dead! They had instructed the churches to stop praying for anyone who had died that were over sixty-five years old or under eighteen months of age to be raised from the dead! Why? The reason being that the people that were raised from the dead would not have a “good quality” of life and were better off in heaven. Now that was something to think about!
Now let us get back to the congregation who prayed for the person to be raised from the dead with no result. Were they out of God’s will? I am not sure, but I believe that the Lord was pleased with their heart. God was pleased even if other ministers in the area ridiculed them for their faith. On the other hand, there are times when God is not willing to raise the dead. For example, in 1954 in Tanzania, Africa if a person was over sixty-five years old or under eighteen months of age and would be better off in heaven!
Back to Bethany
As we move forward with the testimony of Lazarus of Bethany in verses 38,39, we see that Jesus was somehow upset. However, He was on a mission of mercy and of the miraculous. 38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Here we see that obedience to the word of the Lord releases an outstanding miracle (just like at the wedding of Cana – John 2:7). We just need to just be obedient to the Holy Spirit and to the word of the Lord at all times.
Of course, we need to develop our ability to hear and “see” what the Lord is doing (John 15:15). We need to retrain our spirit , soul and , body to see and hear in a new and supernatural way. In the next verse Jesus plainly speaks of the reason for this miracle. In verse 40 He says, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” The raising of Lazarus of Bethany was done to give the Father glory, and to reveal the power and glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. This miracle proved that God can do the impossible and that Jesus was in fact God. In verse 41 the people are obedient to the word of the Lord.
Jesus also teaches us about the importance of hearing the Father and being obedient to His wishes in the ministry of the gift of miracles saying; 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 “And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” Jesus specifically calls only Lazarus otherwise the whole grace yard would have risen on that day.
Again, the word of the Lord releases this miracle. Did Jesus see this instance in prayer? We can ask Him if we make heaven one day. In the next verse we see the miracle manifest on earth as Jesus saw it in heaven: 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Immediately we see in the next two verses that this miracle causes many to believe in Jesus as Savior of the world. Miracles still work to confirm that Jesus is the Savior of the world today too. 45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. However, we also see that this miracle also stirred up the ‘religious spirit’ in some people. Look at verse 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 “If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
Clearly the religious spirit was concerned and in fear of the real power of God. It is unfortunate that many religious leaders are still in fear of the real power of God today. The real power of God will always threaten the religious spirit. Why? When the real power of God and the gift of miracles is released, religious leaders must explain to their “people” why they are not operating in the gift of miracles too. They may also fear that they will lose their sway and power over their congregations. I find this very sad. I have over the years sought to teach people how to operate in healings and miracles.
The most important key is to learn how to touch the throne of heaven in prayer. That is why you may wish to review the ‘Temple Model of Prayer” that I included in the last article. In the next Article, we will look at a modern-day example of How God released the gift of miracles for raising the dead.
*All Scripture References are New King James Version.
Prayer of Salvation
Perhaps you would like to be born again and receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior now. Just pray this prayer out loud:
Father God, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior or Messiah. I believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and that He died upon the Cross to make payment for my sins. I believe that Jesus was buried in an unused grave, but that after three days He rose again to conquer death and sin. Lord, because I was born a human being, I was born a sinner. Lord, I ask you to forgive my sins now in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. God, cover my sins with the atoning blood of Jesus and forgive me now. Amen.
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This article was written by Kevin Basconi for King of Glory Ministries International. Parts of this article was taken from several of Kevin’s books. To read more supernatural testimonies like these or to order Kevin Basconi’s book; “The Seer Anointing and the Blessings of Psalm 24” CLICK HERE.
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