The Jewish sages of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) day taught that there was coming a great day of culmination when God would radically establish His kingdom on the earth giving everyone the unique reward they had merited. In fact all who had died would be part of the great day of resurrection. Each would stand, give account and receive their recompense – good or bad.
Yeshua said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26 NIV)
Our Lord was claiming that He was the One who would pull off The Great Event. He was saying, “I am The Guy who does the raising!”
On another occasion Yeshua said, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his (Messiah’s) voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:28-29 NIV)
If you were to meet someone on the street who claimed to be the superintendent and orchestrator of the resurrection of the dead what would you think of them? When Jesus says it we are inclined to listen. Perhaps it’s His presence, His words of wisdom or the fact that He happens to do extra-ordinary miracles like raising Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter or the widow’s son at Nain.
As a brand new believer in College I devoured the scriptures meditating deeply on the resurrection of our Lord. I studied evidences of the resurrection that reinforced me. I read with wonder of miracles, including resurrections that were happening though the faith of believers. When I was in Israel I would take many hours over many days to visit The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem and soak in the reality of Christ’s victory over death!
In June of 1987 I heard the Lord tell me, “The next miracle you will see will be a resurrection from the dead. Three weeks later God supernaturally raised our daughter from the dead. I believe one of the reasons I saw this miracle was that I had been probing and digesting the truths of the resurrection for years. The Lord had set a stage.
You may read of our miracle at http://www.amiraclestory.com/
Steven C Johnson
Landingstripenterprises