The Walking Dead, Lazarus Series

So here we are week two of the Walking Dead. For those of you who are wondering what in the world is happening at Cornerstone let’s bring you up to speed. Through October and November our theme at Cornerstone is “The Walking Dead” and we will be looking at various stories in the Bible where people had been dead and then were alive. There are a number of these stories and often we just kind of read over them, not really stopping to realize the impact that this would have had not only on the person who had been given life but on those around them as well. To us they are just words on a page but to those who were involved it was literally a life altering event. These are stories of dead people who came back to life, that’s gotta be a little spooky.

And I know that there are stories through history of people who were declared dead only to be discovered later to still be alive. And while most of those incidents happened before the advent of modern medical techniques they sometimes still happen. For example in September of 2007 33 year old Carlos Camejo was declared dead after being involved in a traffic accident in Venezuela. When the staff in the morgue began the autopsy they realized something was wrong when the first incision drew fresh blood and then the corpse screamed. Carlos said “I woke up because the pain was unbearable.” His wife had been called to the hospital to identify her husband’s body only to discover him alive and well and waiting for him.

But in those cases the person being revived comes as a shock to everyone involved, the cases we are looking at is when folks are commanded to come back to life.

But before we go there back to the Walking Dead. The Walking Dead is a television show that is now into its fourth season. It involves Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes and a small band of survivors who are trying to stay alive in a post-apocalyptic world populated by Zombies or Walkers as they are called in the show. So far they haven’t been able to find out what has caused this Zombie Apocalypse or whether or not they can reverse it.

For those who are concerned that we are delving into the dark side here, these are not the Zombies of yesterday that were conjured up by Voodoo, witchcraft and devil worshippers. Instead this has been caused by some unknown biological plague. This of course is even scarier because it becomes something that in this day and age of chemical warfare and GMOs could be entirely possible.

You say you don’t believe in Zombies. Well for you sceptics I give you this photographic proof. (Photo of kids texting.)

Earlier this year there was an article in the National Post entitled: Zombie popularity peaks when society is unhappy: researcher In the article Dr. Sarah Lauro, a professor at Clemson University in South Carolina was quoted as saying “We are more interested in the zombie at times when as a culture we feel disempowered, and the facts are there that, when we are experiencing economic crises, the vast population is feeling disempowered. … Either playing dead themselves … or watching a show like ‘Walking Dead’ provides a great variety of outlets for people.”

Well there you go.

It was so dark, and so cold. He had no idea where he was, how long he had been there or what he was supposed to be doing. The last thing he remembered was being at home in bed. He had been sick; nobody knew what to do or even what was wrong. The doctors had come and gone leaving behind potions and powders that had little effect besides depleting their already meager budget.

It was then that Mary had the idea to send a message to their friend. They had all heard the stories. How the lame walked again, the deaf heard and how he had given sight to the blind.

If anyone could do anything for him it would be Jesus! And so a message was sent, and they waited. And waited and waited. The fever left only to be replaced with chills but soon he was burning up again. The days became fragments as he passed in and out of awareness. He could remember bits and pieces of the conversation, most of it centering either on how sick he was or wondering where Jesus was. Where was Jesus? And then, the girls just cried, every time he opened his eyes there was either Mary or Martha holding his hand and weeping. Why was everyone so sad?

And then there was nothing, well almost nothing. He dreamt that he had died and gone to heaven there he saw his parents and his brother who died as a child. And Moses was there and Elijah and God. But it must have been a dream because it was so bright and so warm, and now it was so dark, and so cold. He had no idea where he was, how long he had been there or what he was supposed to be doing. And then he heard something, it was someone calling his name and they were telling him to come out.