“The saddest day after someone dies is the third day, because for those three days the soul wanders around the grave continually trying to get back into its body, but then when it sees that the color of its face has turned gray, the soul goes away and never returns.”
An ancient religious text, known as the Genesis Rabba, records this Jewish belief. The text itself comes from the early fifth century A.D., but this belief that it records is much older and likely even dates back to the first century when Jesus was teaching his gospel. It’s why when Jesus received an urgent message saying his friend, Lazarus, was sick, he waited two more days before going to him.
By the time Jesus finally made it to Lazarus’ side, the man had been dead for four days. The dead man’s sisters welcomed Jesus into their house of mourning with the comment that had he not taken his sweet time getting there, their brother would still be alive. Others in the community grumbled, too: “Could not he who healed a blind man keep Lazarus from dying?” (Jn 11.37).
Jesus could have, but wanted to make a point. He intended to heal Lazarus all along, but waited until the fourth day to ensure everyone in that community understood very definitively that Lazarus was dead. It is the day after Lazarus’ spirit has left the body, gone away never to return. Lazarus is dead. Not sick. Not asleep. Dead.
Only then does Jesus stand in front of his friend’s tomb and yell, “Lazarus! Come out of there!” (Jn 11.43).
At his call, sounds of shuffling echoed from inside the cave, and moments later a surprising figure hopped out of its darkness into the light, wrapped head to toe in burial cloths.
You and I may stand and shout at every mausoleum as loud as we like, but we will not produce the same result as Christ. What happened that afternoon was not a natural cause and effect but a supernatural intervention. By itself, Lazarus’ corpse could neither hear nor respond to Jesus’ calling. Before the dead man could take action, Christ had to awaken him supernaturally from his death.
It’s the same thing God does for every Christian. Before we can ever hear and respond to Christ’s call of salvation, we too must be supernaturally awakened. The Apostle Paul explains:
You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of humankind. (Eph 2.1-3)
Before we became Christians, we were spiritually dead because of our sins. Paul rambles through an impressive run-on sentence to make this point razor sharp. He wants us to understand very definitively that we had turned away from life with God and there was no hope for our return. We were dead. Not sick. Not asleep. Dead. Only then does he tell us the rest:
But while we were dead in our sins, God (who is rich in mercy!), because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ. By grace, you have been saved! (Eph 2.4-5)
The reason we are Christians—the reason we believe—is because God gave us a supernatural ability to do so. While we lay spiritually dead in our tombs of sin, God made us alive and called our names with the command, “Come out of there!”
“By grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not of your doing. It is the gift of God.” (Eph 2.8)
Because we have been made alive and been given this gift of faith, we are able to choose to believe. Those who still lie dead cannot.
Photo by malik ml williams.
Sun, Feb 1, 2009
Devotion