Invasion of the Former Dead

Invasion of the Former Dead

John 12:9 – Now a large crowd of Judeans learned that Jesus was there, and so they came not only because of him but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. 10 – So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too, 11 – for on account of him many of the Jewish people from Jerusalem were going away and believing in Jesus.

Jesus and Lazarus – the two names were drawing crowds. Jesus, the One who can raise even decaying dead men; and Lazarus, the man who had been buried four days in the tomb, raised to life. How could the chief priests compete against such people? They planned to kill them both. I can just picture their little board meeting with perhaps one of them coming up with the ‘profound’ suggestion of killing Lazarus. He was already dead once but if they made sure Jesus was dead, maybe Lazarus would stay dead this time too. Such selfish, narrow-minded thoughts. Imagine their shock when after Jesus was resurrected they heard reports of other people who had been dead for longer than four days walking the streets of Jerusalem appearing to people and engaging them in conversation. That was an invasion of the former dead confirming the chief priests’ greatest fear: Jesus, whom they crucified, was the Messiah. They could not afford that truth to be the truth and yet it was.

It will be the same for us all. The very truth the world wants to avoid and stamp out will be the truth we must all embrace and come to believe. Jesus is real! Jesus lives! Jesus is King and lord of all! He is the resurrection and the life! On account of Jesus – may we all come to believe more and more in Him, in His love, and in His power to save us from our sins and grant us the gift of eternal life according to His written promises!