Resurrection Thoughts

How are the resurrections of Lazarus and Jesus different? And why does it matter?

Note: Bible passages are from the English Standard Bible (ESV)

The Resurrection of Lazarus

Many readers will be familiar with the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead:

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” …. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:39-44)

In raising Lazarus, Jesus spoke directly to the dead body lying in the cave: “Lazarus, come out.” When Lazarus did what he was told, it was a dramatic illustration of Jesus’ power over death. As miraculous and unexpected as it was, it was disciple-level stuff (see Acts 9:36-42 and Acts 20:7–12), not nearly as momentous as what Jesus planned to do when he himself was dead and buried:

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep…. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:14-18)

Four times in this short passage, Jesus tells his listeners that, as the good shepherd guarding his flock, he will lay down his life. Other than his willingness to die for his flock—and the fact that he said it four times—there doesn’t seem to be anything remarkable about his statement. But a closer look reveals Jesus’ readiness to do something he alone—not you or I—could do.

If I claim that I am willing to “lay down my life”, it’s nothing more than a figure of speech, not to be taken literally. It means that I am willing to allow someone or something else to take my life from me. Perhaps I mean I am prepared to be made a martyr, or to fall on a grenade to save my buddies, or to let a bottle of pills take my life. But that’s not what Jesus said he would do. He didn’t say he would let the Roman soldiers take his life from him. He said he would lay it down and, furthermore, he would do it at a time and place of his own choosing:

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:28-30)

The Resurrection of Jesus

Jesus said he would not only lay down his life, but he would take it up again, like a man laying his hat on the entry table when he enters and taking it up again when he leaves. When he raised Lazarus, Jesus was alive and performing earthly miracles. But now he himself was dead and lying in a tomb. It was one thing for the living Jesus to resurrect Lazarus; it seems like quite another for the dead Jesus to resurrect himself. But it only looks that way if we somehow expect the dead man to raise himself. But of course, the dead man did no such thing.

The risen Christ illustrates a truth revealed at the Creation—that human life has two distinct dimensions, the physical and the spiritual, mortal and immortal. Unlike other creatures, Adam had no life when he was created; he was dust (Genesis 2:7-23). Then God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature”. In fact, he became the living creature, the only one made in God’s image, the only recipient of life both physical and spiritual.

Jesus was such a man; he had a living body and a living spirit. Unique among men, his spirit wasn’t just immortal, it was divine—eternal and unimaginably powerful. When he died on the cross, he “gave up” this spirit and returned to his primal state—pure, almighty spirit with the power to impart life to a dead body.

When Jesus raised Lazarus, he resurrected an implementation of Human Body 1.0, still ruined by the Fall, still corruptible, and still subject to physical death. When he raised himself, he showed us Human Body 2.0, an immortal, incorruptible body fully integrated with life in all its physical and spiritual glory. He offered the new model, together with a new home, to all who would place their faith and trust in him. Have a happy and blessed Resurrection Day!