Aura, Greensboro, NC
There are two accounts of men being restored to life after dying that are just nine chapters apart in the book of John. John 11 tells of Jesus restoring the body of his good friend Lazarus after he had been in the tomb for four days. The dead man’s body appeared when Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out”! He who is life can surely restore life! The hands and feet were still wrapped in linen and a cloth was around his face. His earthly body had been brought back to life to demonstrate Jesus’ power over life and death, but Lazarus remained a mortal and faced a second death at a later date.
John and Peter run to the tomb where the crucified Jesus had been laid after Mary excitedly reported that the tomb was empty on that first Easter morning. When they entered, they found strips of linen lying there. The burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head was still in its place. The linens were positioned as if he had passed right through them. It would have been impossible for a grave robber to have taken the body and left the linens undisturbed.
When Mary confronted Jesus in the burial garden, she didn’t immediately recognize him until he called out her name. Later, he appeared among the disciples within a locked room where they had gathered in fear of being arrested themselves. When he appeared a second time, Thomas was made to believe by touching his pierced hands and side. Later, he joined the disciples by the sea shore and shared a breakfast of bread and fish.
The resurrected body was unique. It was not subject to the same laws of nature or the flesh and blood restored to Lazarus. Jesus’ resurrection was both literal and physical and he was not a disembodied spirit. It seems a totally different creation that awaits you and I had emerged on that first Easter morning!
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