I Was Dead But Now I'm Alive Series

What if I told you that surveys suggest that nearly three-quarters of doctors in the United States believe in miracles? And what if I told you that over half of the physicians surveyed noted that they had witnessed what they considered to be miracles?1

Find John 11 with me, if you will.

Ed Wilkinson was a neuropsychologist and a father in November 1984. His eighty-year-old son, Brad, had been diagnosed with 2 holes in his heart. Surgery was scheduled. As the date of the surgery was scheduled, the eight-year-old Brad began to give his toys away, thinking he would die in surgery. The young boy asked his day, “Am I going to die?” The dad was honest: “Not everyone who has heart surgery dies, but it can happen.” Then the boy asked his dad, “Can Jesus heal me?” The dad said, “I’ll get back to you on that.” And a few days later after reading his Bible, Ed told his son, “God does heal, but whether or not he would in Brad’s case, they still had hope of eternal life in Jesus.” Before surgery at the University of Missouri hospital in Columbia, Missouri, tests confirmed nothing had changed with Brad’s condition. The following morning, Brad was taken in for his operation, which was expected to last four hours. But after just one hour, the surgeon summoned Ed and showed him two films. The first film, taken the day before, showed blood leaking from one heart chamber to another. The second film, taken just as surgery started, showed a wall of some sort where the leak had been. The surgeon said there was nothing wrong with Brad’s heart, even though the holes were clearly visible the day before. “I have not seen this very often,” the surgeon said. He explained that a spontaneous closure rarely happens in infants, but it was not supposed to occur in an eight-year-old. “You can count this as a miracle,” the doctor told the father. The hospital risk manager said firmly, “You can see from the films: this was not a misdiagnosis.” Then a pulmonologist added, “Somebody somewhere must have been praying.” Later, an insurance agent called the father to complain about the forms he had submitted. “What’s a ‘spontaneous closure’?” the agent asked. The father replied, “A miracle.” Today, Brad is a grown man with a business and children of his own. He has never had any heart problems since his healing.2

Do you believe in miracles? Our story picks up as Jesus arrives four days after the death of Lazarus. It’s a big miracle!

Today’s Scripture

So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (John 11:16-27).

You need to be aware that while many will refer to Lazarus as a resurrection, it’s really a resuscitation.

Why the distinction?

When believers are resurrected one day, they will not return to life just as it is here on earth.

Instead, resurrection means starting a life where death can no longer touch you ever again.3 Lazarus was raised to die again one day.

Sermon Preview

1. When God Drags His Feet

2. Resurrection Was Never Thought Possible

1. When God Drags His Feet

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (John 11:5-6).

Two days longer had to feel like an eternity when you’re waiting on a man who can heal your brother. We are not told exactly how Jesus learned that his friend Lazarus was sick.

1.1 Not What We Expected

When Jesus understands Lazarus is near death, everything in us expects Jesus to leave for Bethany immediately. Instead, Jesus intentionally delays. That goes against our expectations. Can you imagine Mary and Martha pacing the floor, waiting for Jesus? They were at the deathbed of their beloved brother. Can’t you see Lazarus struggling to breathe? The whole time, they’re looking out the window expecting to see Jesus arrive. But Jesus is a no-show, and Lazarus dies. Martha and Mary go into mourning. They lovingly wrap the corpse of their brother in strips of cloth, lay him in a cave, and roll the stone across the opening. Still, there’s no Jesus. Can you imagine what was going through the minds of the sisters?4