By Shenwei, China
Each of our brothers and sisters who believes in the Lord Jesus knows that the Lord Jesus did the work of redeeming humanity in the Age of Grace. He not only bestowed compassion and tolerance upon us, teaching us to be tolerant and patient and to repent and confess, but also manifested many miracles, such as, letting the blind see and the lame walk, healing the lepers, feeding five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, raising Lazarus to life, and so on. None of these miracles doesn’t show forth the authority of God. But when I read chapter 11, verses 43-44 of the Gospel of John, “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them, Loose him, and let him go.” After reading this passage of scripture, I thought that at that time Lazarus had already been dead for four days, and maybe his body had started to smell, but just one word from the Lord Jesus raised him from the dead. What are the intentions of God behind this matter? This question puzzled me for a long time. It was not until once I read some words in a book that the doubt in my heart was resolved.
1. The Resurrection of Lazarus Proved That the Lord Jesus Was the Incarnate God Himself
The book says, “In that era, it was extremely significant that the Lord Jesus did something like this. Because God had become flesh, people could only see His physical appearance, His practical side, and His insignificant aspect. Even if some people saw and understood something of His character or some special abilities that He appeared to possess, no one knew where the Lord Jesus came from, who He truly was in His essence, and what other things He was actually capable of doing. All of this was unknown to mankind. So many people wanted to find proof to answer these questions about the Lord Jesus, and to know the truth. Could God do something to prove His own identity? For God, this was a breeze—it was a piece of cake. He could do something anywhere, anytime to prove His identity and essence, but God had His way of doing things—with a plan, and in steps. He did not do things indiscriminately, but rather looked for the right time and the right opportunity to do something which He would allow man to see, something that truly was imbued with meaning. In this way, He proved His authority and identity. So then, could the resurrection of Lazarus prove the Lord Jesus’ identity? Let us look at the following passage of scripture: ‘And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth….’ When the Lord Jesus did this, He said just one thing: ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ Lazarus then came out from his tomb—this was accomplished because of just a few words uttered by the Lord” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”).
Through this passage of words I saw that when the Lord Jesus worked and appeared to man two thousand years ago, nobody knew who He was. Many people were filled with a curiosity and doubt toward Him. The disciples that followed Him didn’t recognize the identity of Him either. Some of them called Him teacher; some also said He was the greatest of prophets. From these facts, I saw that no more than a few people knew His true identity in that age.
In order to prove His identity to mankind, the Lord Jesus used the miracle of bringing the dead back to life to reveal His authority and power to make man know that He is God Himself. From this miracle He performed, I saw that He neither observed any rituals nor set up an altar to pray to the God in heaven before He spoke. He only said loudly, “Lazarus, come forth.” Then Lazarus who had been dead for four days came out of the tomb. As soon as God says one sentence, the matter is finished. The prophets in ages past also performed a lot of miracles, but the miracle of bringing the dead back to life could not even have been performed by any prophets. This miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead has proved the identity of the Lord Jesus—the incarnate God, for only God seizes the key to Hades. The time when we are born or die is only determined by God. Evil spirits and Satan, including servants from Hades, are all unable to command mankind’s life and death. It is only God Himself who can perform this miracle.
The Lord Jesus performed the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, which lets us recognize that His identity is God Himself and achieve a completely new awareness of His true identity and all that He has and is, and finally we are able to truly believe in and follow Him. This miracle the Lord Jesus performed is extremely meaningful.
2. The Resurrection of Lazarus—the Manifestation of God’s Authority
The book says, “When the Lord Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead, He used only these few words: ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ He said nothing aside from this. So, what do these words demonstrate? They demonstrate that God can accomplish anything by speaking, including resurrecting a dead man. When God created all things, when He created the world, He did so with words—spoken commands, words with authority, and in this way all things were created, and thus, it was accomplished. These few words spoken by the Lord Jesus were just like the words spoken by God when He created the heavens and earth and all things; in the same way, they held the authority of God and the power of the Creator. All things were formed and stood fast because of words from God’s mouth, and in the same way, Lazarus walked out from his tomb because of the words from the Lord Jesus’ mouth. This was the authority of God, demonstrated and realized in His incarnate flesh. This type of authority and ability belonged to the Creator, and to the Son of man in whom the Creator was realized. This is the understanding taught to mankind by God bringing Lazarus back from the dead” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”).
After reading the words in the book, I realized that this miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead makes us not only know the true identity of the Lord Jesus—the flesh of God incarnate, but also understand a fact: Though in outward appearance the Lord Jesus seems ordinary and normal, the words from His mouth are the truth, with the authority and power, and are able to command man’s birth and death and rule over the life and death of all things.
From Genesis we see that in the beginning, God used words to create heavens, earth, and everything that exists. Soon after that, He created Adam with the dust and breathed the breath of life into him and then Adam became a living man with a spirit. God has the authority to create the heavens and earth and all things, and is able to give the breath of life to mankind. All things are established and made complete by God’s words. God’s words can give life to men, and can also have men die; God’s words can accomplish everything, and moreover, can supply mankind with life. Through this miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, the Lord Jesus allows us to know that though God has become flesh, He is still God Himself and has the unique authority and power, and such power is not possessed by any created being.
Thanks be to the Lord! Reading this book makes me have a deeper understanding of all that God has and is, and makes my faith in following the Lord more steadfast. From now on, no matter what kind of trouble and hardship I will encounter, as long as I think God is my rear guard and reliance, I will have confidence and strength. Thank the Lord! All the glory be to the Lord!
