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I want to talk to you about raising the dead. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). He said we would do the works He did and even greater works than these we would do (Jn 14:12). He said, "You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it." (Jn 14:14). So that includes raising the dead, since Jesus and the apostles did this, as well as the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
- One of our past students did raise the dead once, which I have written about. (
link)
- And one of my friends in Bulgaria raised her husband from the dead. (
link)
- The wife of Daniel Ekechukwu in Nigeria brought her dead husband to the Reinhard Bonnke crusade meeting in an ambulance after he had been in the morgue. The people in the lower floor of the church, beneath the sanctuary, prayed over him in his coffin and the Lord raised him to life. (
link)
- Henry Gruver's daughter raised her father from the dead when he was killed in a serious auto accident where he had a hole in his head (
link). And they went to his other daughter's wedding immediately afterward.
I will talk more about those later. But first, it's important to look very carefully at how Jesus did it and how the apostles did it. Here are some biblical examples that we should study and be prepared to follow the biblical approach the Lord and his apostles used to raise the dead by faith in the name of Jesus!
Old Testament Examples
Let's look first at a few examples from the Old Testament.
Widow of Zarephath’s Son: Raised by the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:17–24).
After the boy died and the mother cried out to Elijah in grief, he said “Give me your son,”
“He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.”
The prophet brought the boy to his own room in the woman’s house where he was a guest, and laid the boy on his own bed. So we see the seclusion from the woman’s fear and any unbelief that she had. We also see that the boy’s body was now in contact with the bed the prophet slept on, so there was a point of contact with something that had been in contact with the anointing that was upon the prophet.
“Then he cried out to the Lord, ‘Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?;” (v. 20)
The prophet prayed a desperate prayer to the Lord.
“Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, ‘Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!’” (v. 21)
The prophet prayed to the Lord explicitly asking Him to let the boy’s life return to him.
The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. (v. 22)
It was a simple process with great faith and a miraculous result.
Shunammite Woman’s Son: Raised by the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:18–37).
A major key to this miracle was the faith of the boy’s mother. She went to the prophet and was determined to reach him at any cost. When she did, she had faith that he could heal her son. Although the prophet sent his servant with instructions to lay the prophet’s staff on the boy’s face, that was not what the mother had faith for and not the way the Lord chose to raise the boy. So the prophet traveled with the woman to her house.
“He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord.” (v. 33)
Notice that he shut the door so that he was alone in the room with the dead boy, and notice how he first prayed to the Lord, which is a key in other examples of raising the dead.
“Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm.” (v. 34)
The prophet made direct contact with the dead body, even matching up the parts of his own body with the boy’s. This began the process of the boy’s spirit returning to his body, evidenced by the warmth that returned.
“Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.” (v. 35)
Perhaps he continued praying, but also gave some time for the body to warm up. But since the process was still not complete and the boy had not returned to consciousness (i.e., awoken from the sleep of death). Elisha repeated the process he did at first, using direct, body-to-body contact. This was done by faith in the Lord, and could be likened to laying on of hands in the New Testament, using the prophet’s body as a point of contact for the power of God to flow into the dead body.
Man Raised in Elisha’s Tomb: A corpse touched Elisha’s bones and came to life (2 Kings 13:20–21).
The anointing that was still on the bones of Elisha the prophet caused a man’s spirit to return to his corpse. The bones were a point of contact, just as our hand can be, or a piece of clothing we have worn, such as the aprons that touched the apostle Paul’s body were a point of contact that brought miraculous healing to those who touched them.
New Testament Examples (by Jesus)
Now let's look at how Jesus raised the dead and learn from His approach.
Widow of Nain’s Son: Jesus raised a young man from the dead during his funeral procession (Luke 7:11–17).
This was an act of great compassion on the part of our Lord, because the woman did not even ask for help. But the Lord knew that she had lost her only son, and being a widow, would be destitute without anyone to support her, not to mention her magnified grief of being left all alone without her closest loved ones. So the love that was in the heart of Jesus was a key to this miracle and any raising of the dead.
“Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’” (v. 14)
Some versions call it a bier and some translate it coffin. The Greek word is “soros” meaning a “coffin” or by analogy a “bier”. A bier is a stand or portable frame used to support or carry a coffin, casket, or shroud-wrapped body during a funeral service or viewing. Whether it was a coffin that he touched or a bier, we see the key being his point of contact that he made with that which was holding the body of the dead man, allowing the power of God to flow through his hand into the body. In addition to that point of contact, He simultaneously spoke to the young man by faith as if he were simply asleep, and with authority commanded him to arise by saying, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
“The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” (v. 15)
There was no great fanfare. It just instantly happened once the man’s spirit returned to his body at the Lord’s command.
Jairus’ Daughter: Jesus raised the twelve-year-old daughter of a synagogue leader (Mark 5:35–43, Luke 8:41-55).
The father of the girl had faith that the Lord could heal his daughter, even though she was obviously dying; so this important ingredient of faith, which is necessary for any miracle, was already present at the beginning. As Jesus went with him, and was delayed by the healing of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, a man came and reported that the girl had died; but Jesus ignored the man, and told the father not to be afraid, but only to believe. So this demonstrates the need to reject all bad reports from other people, maintain your faith, and encourage the loved one not to be afraid, but simply to believe the Lord for a miracle. Fear is the enemy of faith, so everyone needs to focus on not being afraid and just believing God.
When Jesus went to raise the little girl from the dead, he took only the 3 closest disciples (Peter, James, and John) with him and closed the door. He put the mourners outside. He was not going to do this with the atmosphere being heavily laden with a sense of hopelessness or bring anyone with him into the room that may have some unbelief.
Lazarus of Bethany: Jesus raised his friend Lazarus after he had been dead for four days (John 11:1–44).
Jesus first made sure that his apostles and the immediate family had faith, which is why He told His apostles that Lazarus was asleep and that it was for the glory of God. It’s also why He asked the dead man’s sister Martha if she believed that her brother Lazarus would rise from the dead, and it’s also why He told her that He is the resurrection and the life. He said that anyone who believes in Him would live even though he dies, and whoever lives by believing in Him would never die. So He made proclamations of truth pertaining to resurrection of the dead in order to build up their faith. He also demonstrated sympathy and compassion for the grieving loved ones, as we see in the way He spoke with the sisters of the dead man and the way he wept.
Before Jesus actually raised Lararus, He first prayed to the Father in heaven for the power to raise him from the dead, giving thanks that the Father had heard him. He then had them roll away the stone, so that Lazarus could come out when the Lord called him forth and perhaps also so that Lazarus could hear him calling. He called Lazarus’ name and commanded him with authority to come forth. Once he came out of the tomb, he directed the bystanders to take off his grave clothes.
Our Lord Jesus explained how He was able to raise the dead. He said: "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it." (Jn 5:21).
New Testament Examples (by Apostles)
Next let's learn from the way the apostles raised the dead.
Tabitha (Dorcas): Raised by the Apostle Peter in Joppa (Acts 9:36–42).
Peter responded to a request by the friends of the dead woman to come immediately. They showed him the things she had made when she was alive. The fact that they did these things indicates that they had faith for her to be raised from the dead, otherwise their actions would be pointless. So he didn’t have to do much to build their faith, since it was already evident. Peter went into the room alone, closed the door, got down on his knees and prayed for the power to raise her from the dead, then looking at the woman, he simply called her name and told her to "Get up." This is similar to the way Jesus raised the little girl, closing the door behind him, calling her name, telling her to get up. And likewise when he raised Lazarus, he called his name and gave a simple authoritative command for him to come forth.
Eutychus raised from the dead: Raised by the Apostle Paul after falling from a window during a long sermon (Acts 20:7–12).
Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” We don’t know exactly what he prayed or said to the young man. But we can assume he was praying in his heart as he went down the stairs to the young man’s dead body. We can also assume that when he put his arms around the young man laying on the ground that he may have spoken the name of Jesus and called the man’s name. We don’t have that specific info, so we can only deduce it from other passages about the way the Lord and Peter raised the dead. This particular example has similarities to the way Elijah the prophet stretched himself out on the dead son of the widow of Zarephath.
Extrabiblical Examples
Lastly, at the opening of this article, I mentioned four modern examples of raising the dead, although I have listened to testimonies of many, many more than that. But let’s look at some of these extrabiblical examples and see what we can learn from them.
Boy raised from the dead in Uganda: One of our past students raised the dead once, which I have written about. (
link)
This former student of mine in Uganda, whose name is Justus, testified about the miracle saying, “As l ministered to the family from Rev 5:5, the [dead] boy began to sweat. Life came back [into him], when I was holding up the boy on my chest.”
He was ministering to the grieving family from a verse that tells us not to weep, because Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed, and He is able. It says, “Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’” That’s a powerful verse about the triumph of Jesus Christ. Since He has triumphed over death, hell, and the grave and has overcome the world (1 Co 15:55-57; Rev 1:18; Col 2:15; Jn 16:33), He is easily able to raise the dead.
He was not only showing love and compassion to the parents by comforting them from Scripture, but also for the dead boy, by holding his cold corpse in his arms. He was also building up their faith in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of His complete victory, and encouraging them not to weep.
Bulgarian pastor raised from the dead: And one of my friends in Bulgaria raised her husband from the dead. (
link).
My Bulgarian friend, whose name is Zlatka, had just been informed by the doctor who had been operating on her husband, Haroutyun, that her husband had died. She didn’t feel well. In fact, she almost died of shock right on the spot, but the Holy Spirit came upon her with power and she said, “I demand he come back to life in the name of Jesus!!” At that same moment, he came back to life. They saw his pulse in his neck!
The Holy Spirit came upon her with power and she made a bold declaration of faith in the name of Jesus, demanding that her husband come back to life.
Nigerian pastor raised from the dead: Daniel Ekechukwu in Nigeria was raised from the dead at a Reinhard Bonnke crusafe in Nigeria.
The wife of Daniel Ekechukwu in Nigeria brought her dead husband to the Reinhart Bonnke crusade meeting in an ambulance after he had been in the morgue. The people in the lower floor of the church, beneath the sanctuary, prayed over him in his coffin and the Lord raised him to life. (
link).
While he was dead and experiencing hell, his wife was crying out for God to bring him back to her. She got his corpse out of the morgue, where he had been for three days after being embalmed, and brought it by ambulance to a meeting being conducted by evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke. Through the prayers of some pastors and others in the basement of the church, Daniel was raised from the dead.
His wife was praying to the Lord for her husband to be raised to life. She had faith in Him to do it. She acted on her faith by bringing his body in an ambulance to a Christian evangelistic crusade to be prayed for, and he was indeed prayed for by a number of people while still in his coffin.
Her faith was so great that she intended to bring the coffin right down the aisle to the preacher to do a miracle in front of the entire congregation, but the security guards would not allow it, so she was redirected to bring the body downstairs to a room where others prayed for him while massaging his dead body. So tenacious faith, laying on of hands, and prayer to God were key aspects in this miracle.
American preacher raised from the dead: Henry Gruver's daughter raised her father from the dead when he was killed in a serious auto accident where he had a hole in his head (
link). And they went to his other daughter's wedding immediately afterward.
While his body was laying dead on the ground with a hole in his forehead next to the wrecked vehicle that he was thrown from when it crashed, after all attempts by the forest rangers to resuscitate him using CPR, his fifteen-year-old daughter, who stood beside his corpse, said this: “Devil, that’s my Dad! You can’t have him. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Even though his spirit was already soaring through the stars of the galaxy on his way to heaven, his spirit immediately returned to his body and he came back to life.
His daughter obviously exercised faith, and in the name of Jesus rebuked the devil, which was a spirit of death, refusing to let him have her father. In this case, perhaps we could call it "Raising the Dad."
Bonus Testimony! British Pastor Raised from the Dead: Rod Lewis was raised from the dead by his wife Pauline shouting the name of Jesus repeatedly (
Link). On the third time she did so, he returned from heaven back into his body. Since then, he has raised others from the dead. In one instance he laid hands on the dead man's head with anointing oil, rebuked the spirit of death in the name of Jesus, and commanded it to take its hands off the dead man. Then he commanded the dead man to come back into his body, calling him by his name. Immediately the man returned to life.
When to Raise Someone from the Dead
You may be wondering how we can know when it's appropriate to raise someone from the dead, since everyone must eventually die sometime (Heb 9:27). You may be thinking that perhaps it was God's will that the person died at the particular time he did. Therefore, please let me give you a guideline to help you know when to attempt to raise the dead. Unless you know for certain that the person was a believer in Jesus Christ, who was ready to meet his Maker, and who finished his work on earth for the Lord (Phil 1:23-26; Ac 13:36; Col 4:17), then you should assume that it was NOT his time to die, and he qualifies as a good candidate to be raised from the dead.
Who Should Raise the Dead?
If you are thinking that one must be very strong to raise the dead, I can assure you that it does not depend on our own strength. When you are weak, then He is strong. His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9b,10b). God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Co 1:27b). It's not your strength that enables you to raise the dead; it's His power made perfect in your weakness.
Maybe you are thinking that this is only for certain people with a gift of raising the dead. If so, then let me remind you that Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (Jn 14:12). Since Jesus raised the dead, then if you believe in Him, you will do the same thing and even greater things than that. If you don't believe that, then you make Him out to be a liar. He also said, "All things are possible for him who believes" (Mk 9:23). "All things" includes raising the dead. for you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Phil 4:13). And remember that the Lord is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), so this is not just for some believers.
However, it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the Father and His Son Jesus Christ raise the dead through willing, Spirit-filled vessels (Jn 5:21). Therefore, it's best to first be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire before you attempt to operate in this realm (Mt 3:11; Lk 3:16; 11:13:24:49; Ac 1:5,8; 2:4, 38; Jn 7:38; 20:22), because you will need to have a powerful anointing from the Lord, without which you will have limited success. If you have not received this anointing, then please pray and ask the Lord to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Please see
Baptized with the Holy Spirit and
The Holy Fire Series.
Closing Words
Some of the key points here in these biblical and extrabiblical testimonies are the need for faith in our own hearts, faith in the heart of the grieving loved one(s), encouraging them not to be afraid or to weep but to believe, as well as praying first for God’s power, closing the door to shut out any unbelief or hopelessness, speaking the person’s name while looking at them, boldly and directly rebuking the devil or spirit of death in the name of Jesus, refusing to accept the person’s death, operating in love, and authoritatively commanding them by faith in the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit to get up. In some instances a point of contact may be used such as laying on of hands or putting arms around the dead person, but it is not always necessary.
We also as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ should all be prepared to raise the dead whenever it may become necessary to do so. We must gird our mind for action, remaining prepared at all times, because we never know when the need to do so may arise.
Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission.
Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the
Home page, such as
A Tale of Two Kings,
The Servant of the Lord,
The Shepherding Role of Elders,
Success in God's Eyes,
Accountable, correctable, and teachable,
A Personality Profile of the Apostle Paul,
Persecuted or Popular?, and
Having a Servant's Heart. You may also access my complete blog directory at "
Writing for the Master."
___________________________________________________
Len Lacroix is the founder of
Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission.
www.dmiworld.org.
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