miracle 7
 The final miracle in John’s Gospel is the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. A number of years ago I met a wonderful man called Jim Sepulveda. If you put his name into Google you will find his story. Basically, God raised him back to life after he had died on the surgeon’s table. What we found remarkable about him was his gentleness, his willingness to serve (he stayed behind at the end of the meeting to help stack chairs) and his love for Jesus. He carried His presence with him. He was staying in a home in Forest Hill along with some interns from the church where we served at the time. As he passed them at the top of the stairs on his way to bed they all fell under the loving power of God. Today, from all around the world, we listen to accounts of people raised from the dead. As the coming Kingdom advances we should not be surprised to hear such stories.
Baptism is also a picture of moving from death to life. When someone goes under the water we know that if they stay there they are a dead person. That is our state without Christ. When we come up out of the water we are raised in Christ and the life that is now lived is one of faith in the God who loves them and has given His life for them.
Jesus raised three people to life. They are a foretaste of His resurrection. Where as in their case all three eventually died – hopefully of old age – Jesus is alive and for ever presents our case before the Father. The first was a girl of 12 years. She had only just died and Jesus restores her to her parents, practically advising them to give her something to eat.
At Nain, Jesus intercepts the funeral procession of a widow’s only son. He is older and has been dead longer but Jesus raises him up. Then there is Lazarus in John Ch 11. In the King James Version it says, when Jesus asks for the tomb to be opened, “Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days!” He had been dead for sometime and was himself an older man. No matter how dead we are or how dead we feel, God can raise us up and give us new life. That is what Jesus promises.
In John Ch10 v10 Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”.
May we be life givers to the world in Jesus’ name.
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