The Lazarus Man

He’s about to raise this little girl from the dead and he does it as confidently as if she were not even dead at all! He walked in, took her by the hand, and said, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” And immediately the girl stood up and walked around! The Bible says everyone one in the house was “astonished.” Everyone but Jesus, that is. “The Lazarus Man” knew it would be this way.

“Don’t be afraid Jairus; just believe.” “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”

“Martha, your brother will rise again.” “Lazarus, come forth!”

Never any doubt.

(WIDOW OF NAIN’S SON) Luke 7:11-17 – As they walked through the town of Nain, Jesus and his disciples were joined by a large crowd that gathered around them. On their way out of town, they came upon a funeral procession. Let’s read. (Starting at Luke 7:12) “As they approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. (I love this next line) When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’”

In that moment, Jesus knew what he was going to do. (Once he makes up his mind, death is no obstacle.) Understand that he didn’t just going around raising people from the dead. This is one of three recorded instances where Jesus, for whatever reason, intervened and over-ruled the power of death. Again, understand that this boy, this only son of a widow (his Daddy has died, his mother is now all alone) is dead. He’s been dead for a while. It’s the day of the funeral. He’s stiff. Rigamortis has long since set in. The funeral director has done whatever they did back then to prepare the body for burial. This boy is on his way to the cemetery to be buried.

Jesus walks up to this grief-stricken mother, who is now all alone, no source of income, overwhelmed by her circumstances – and he says, “Don’t cry.” He could have said a lot of things, “I’m so sorry.” “God bless you.” “My prayers are with you in your time of loss.” – but instead, he said, “Don’t cry.” You don’t tell a widow woman on the way to the cemetery to bury her only son not to cry! It’s not a very compassionate thing to say and I don’t think he would have said it except he knew something she didn’t know: he was about to raise this boy from the dead! He was saying, “In just a few seconds, there will no longer be a reason for you to cry.”

He walked over to the casket and touched it. The pallbearers all stood still. Jesus said, “‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, (I wonder what he said? “Thanks for the ride?!?”) and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” The Bible says, “The people were filled with awe and praised God.” But Jesus, “The Lazarus Man” knew it would be this way.

“Don’t cry,” he said to the widow. ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’

“Don’t be afraid Jairus; just believe.” “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”

“Martha, your brother will rise again.” “Lazarus, come forth!”

Never any doubt.

(THE RESURRECTION) Luke 24:1-8 (READ)