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t much people. Now when
he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold,
there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and
much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on
her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare
him stood still. and he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead
sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother."The passage actually states that the son was on a bier. (A bier is
a wooden frame, partly resembling a coffin and partly a hand-barrow. The dead were
carried out in this with the feet bound, the body wrapped in grave clothes, and a shawl
over the face. Four men carried it on their shoulders by two poles projected at each
end from the corners.) So the dead son was on a bier on his way to be buried. Lazarus,
though, had lain in his grave for 4 days.
If you look at the above 3
instances you notice a progression. The
1st child had only just died from illness, the
body probably still warm, so fresh had been her death. The
2nd person (the son) had been dead at least long enough to have
been prepared and anointed for burial, wrapped in burial clothes, a bier made and a
funeral procession started, so you could safely
say he had been dead about 2 days. And finally, the
3rd person, Lazarus had been dead 4 days. The period of time the recipients
of this miracle had been dead (or asleep) became longer as Jesus' ministry
came closer to fruition.
The raising of people from the
dead was not a new concept to the Israelites. In Old Testament times both Elijah and
Elisha had raised people from the dead.
Elijah raised the son of the Zarephath widow from the dead (1
Kings 17:17-24), "And it came to pass after these things, that the son of
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the house, fell sick; and his sickness
was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou
come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her,
Give me thy son. And he took him out of her
bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon
the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the
child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and
said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord
heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the
child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him
down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and
Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. And the woman
said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the
word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth".
Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman from the dead
(2 Kings 4:32-37).
"And when Elisha was come into
the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and
shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon
the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands
upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child: and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched
himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven
times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called
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