Answers:
Every time I read the biblical story of the Lord Jesus resurrecting Lazarus, I feel God’s almightiness and wondrousness, and I see how authoritative and powerful His words are: With one word, He brought the dead back to life. Beyond showing us His great power, however, what intention did God want to convey to us through this miracle?
God’s words have given us the answer to this question. Below, let’s take a look at God’s words and see what intention God conveyed to us through His resurrection of Lazarus.
1. The Resurrection of Lazarus Proves That the Lord Jesus Was God Himself
God’s words say, “The Lord Jesus doing something like this was extremely significant in that age. Because God had become flesh, people could only see His physical appearance, His practical side, and His insignificant side. Even if some people saw and understood some of His character or some strengths that He appeared to have, no one knew where the Lord Jesus came from, who His essence truly was, and what more He really could do. All of this was unknown to mankind. Too many people wanted proof of this thing, and to know the truth. Could God do something to prove His own identity? For God, this was a breeze—it was a piece of cake. He could do something anywhere, anytime to prove His identity and essence, but God did things with a plan, and in steps. He didn’t do things indiscriminately; He looked for the right time, and the right opportunity to do something most meaningful for mankind to see. This proved His authority and His identity. So then, could the resurrection of Lazarus prove the Lord Jesus’ identity? Let’s look at this passage of scripture: ‘And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth….’ When the Lord Jesus did this, He said just one thing: ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ Lazarus then came out from his tomb—this was accomplished because of a single line uttered by the Lord. … this miracle was the most normal, tiny little demonstration of the Creator’s authority. This is the authority, and the ability of God. God has the authority to have a person die, to have his soul leave his body and return to Hades, or wherever it should go. When someone dies, and where they go after death—these are determined by God. He can do this anytime and anywhere. He is not constrained by humans, events, objects, space, or place. If He wants to do it He can do it, because all things and living beings are under His rule, and all things live and die by His word, His authority. He can resurrect a dead man—this is also something He can do anytime, anywhere. This is the authority that only the Creator possesses” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”). From God’s words, we can see that, when the Lord Jesus appeared and worked in the flesh as the Son of man, the Jews of those days treated Him as an ordinary man. Even though through listening to Him preach, many came to feel that the Lord’s words carried authority and power, they still didn’t know His identity or essence, and so some disciples called Him “teacher,” and some said that He was the “greatest of the prophets.” When the Lord Jesus performed the miracle of bringing Lazarus back to life, many then truly witnessed the power and authority of God, and they became certain from the bottom of their hearts that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah they had longed for, and that the Lord Jesus was Christ, as is recorded in the Bible: “Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him” (John 11:45). Furthermore, we can see from the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus that God alone controls the keys to the Hades. No evil spirit, not Satan, nor any lackey in Hades controls when we human beings are born and when we die—this rests with God alone, and our fates are all in His hands. The resurrection of Lazarus was a manifestation of the Lord Jesus’ unique authority and power, and it was a manifestation of the Lord Jesus’ identity and status as the Lord of creation. Through this miracle, the Lord Jesus enabled the people of that time to know that He was Christ and that He was the incarnate God Himself.
2. Knowing God’s Disposition Through the Resurrection of Lazarus
It says in God’s words, “God does not do anything that is without meaning. One resurrection of Lazarus is adequate to demonstrate God’s authority. It is adequate to prove the identity of the Lord Jesus. This is why the Lord Jesus did not repeat this type of miracle. God does things according to His own principles. In human language, it would be that God is mindful of serious work. That is, when God does things He does not stray from the purpose of His work. He knows what work He wants to carry out in this stage, what He wants to accomplish, and He will work strictly according to His plan. If a corrupt person had that kind of ability, he would just be thinking of ways to reveal his ability so that others would know how formidable he was, so they would bow down to him, so he could control them and devour them. This is the evil that comes from Satan—this is called corruption. God does not have such disposition, and He does not have such essence. His purpose in doing things isn’t to show Himself off, but to provide mankind with more revelation and guidance, so people see very few examples in the Bible of this type of thing. This doesn’t mean that the Lord Jesus’ abilities were limited, or that He couldn’t do that type of thing. It’s simply that God didn’t want to do it, because the Lord Jesus resurrecting Lazarus had very practical significance, and also because the primary work of God becoming flesh wasn’t performing miracles, it wasn’t bringing people back from the dead, but it was the work of redemption for mankind. So, much of the work that the Lord Jesus completed was teaching people, providing for them, and helping them, and things such as resurrecting Lazarus were merely small portions of the ministry that the Lord Jesus carried out” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”).
Everything God does has meaning, and it is done to guide us toward understanding the truth and understanding God’s will, so that God’s work can achieve even better results. The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, for example, enables us to see that the Lord Jesus was possessed of unique authority and power, that He controlled the keys to the Hades, ruled the life and death of man and was the Sovereign of all things. But the actions of God are principled, and He does things with a plan, and in steps. After He had performed this miracle, God continued His work to redeem mankind in accordance with His management plan. From this, we can see that God’s disposition and essence are so incredibly humble and lovable. There is not one iota of arrogance, conceit or showing off. Instead, He is constantly performing His work to save mankind in obscurity. We human beings, however, are not like this. We show off any little talent we have, and we flaunt ourselves before others in order to prove that we are better than other people, and thereby obtain their high esteem and approval—we really are without reason!
Through the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, God enables us to know that the Lord Jesus was God incarnate, that He was God Himself, and He enables us to have true faith in the Lord and to follow the Lord Jesus in earnest. At the same time, we come to know God’s humble and hidden disposition and see His dearness and loveliness. We should emulate Christ and, no matter what we do, apply all our efforts only before God and not show ourselves off before other people, for only by doing this will we earn God’s blessing and acceptance.
