Resuscitation and Resurrection

Decades ago, I served a parish in Lubbock Texas, St. Paul’s on the Plains. There was a dear couple Peter and Karin, from South Africa. Peter was getting a doctorate in animal husbandry. They and their two young boys loved the church and the parish family benefited greatly from their stay, as they were such a delightful family. I enjoyed their several stories about how the English vocabulary was a little different here than in their country. Once when Karin and the boys were out on a quite desolate road, her car wouldn’t start. A kind West Texas native stopped and asked about their situation. “I believe my battery has gone flat.”, Karin said with her lilting accent. The man said, “Well, Ma’am, it is probably dead; it’s the tires that go flat, batteries die.” He gave them a jump to get them home, and all was well. He did not charge them for the jump or the English lesson.

What a good old fellow he was, with his deep drawl! He produced the jumper cables, resuscitated the dead battery, and got the nice Anglicans back home to Lubbock to check further on the needs of the car. In the course of Jesus’s ministry, there are three miracles in which he raises people from death. From Mark, chapter 5, we learn of the raising of the little daughter of Jairus, a leader of the local synagogue. From Luke, chapter 7, we learn of a miracle in the village of Nain, just south of Mount Tabor. A widow from there lost her son, and Jesus interrupted the funeral procession to bring the young man to life again. The dramatic raising of Lazarus of Bethany, the close friend of Jesus, is brought to us within the Gospel according to John, chapter 11. He is truly dead, and he is raised to life by the Savior. From the Acts of the Apostles, in the passage for this coming Sunday, we will see an instance of how Christ’s power to raise the dead to life again begins to show up in the ministry of the Apostles after Christ was ascended into heaven, and the Spirit empowers his followers.

Now in Joppa, there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha…She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without delay." So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. (Acts 9:36-42)

I think we all sense the distinction between these experiences of raising from death to life, i.e., these resuscitations, and the Resurrection of Jesus which ushers in resurrection hope for all of us. The latter is the promise of life in a whole different order of living. The restoration of life such as what Tabitha experienced, and Lazarus, Jairus’s daughter and the young man from Nain, was a return to their mortal, corruptible life. The end of their mortal life would still come. These miracles are remarkable signs of the Kingdom of God. They signal our need to come to Christ, believe in him, and surrender to the complete union he can bring about for us.

The Resurrection of Jesus testifies to God’s ultimate, sovereign power over death. It shows indeed, the divine victory over death for our sake. Love was in play to the highest degree as Jesus gave himself to the death on the cross. The power of that love, and the resulting mystery, was that Death itself was defeated. St. Paul, in his theological treatise to Christians in Rome, asserts this teaching:

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:9-11)

We have an astounding double assurance. Christ’s power of love and healing can restore us to life in this earthly existence, and bring us back from near-death, and even from death. People have experienced this. Surpassing that manifestation of power and love, Christ, having been resurrected grants us a share in that victory. In the Resurrection-life of Christ, we will be no longer subject to corruption of any kind, neither illness, injury, nor mortal death. Our resurrection bodies will be of a different sort. Everything will be different and new. We know not how, but we will live in a whole new order of life. It will not be a mere improvement; you will be a whole new creation.

What do you think of that? If you had had a chance to ask St. Paul what that will be like, he might have responded, “I really can’t say.” He might add as he once did:

For we know only in part…but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end…. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we shall see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:9-12)

Paul might urge us further into our union with Christ, adding as he once did, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Christ will raise you in all kinds of ways; he loves you. Throughout life, we have in our bodies or our circumstances all sorts of “flat tires” and “dead batteries”. We encounter many “deaths”. We are wise to trust Christ to restore us. In the very end, he will raise you and fold you completely into his Resurrection itself. Indeed, you will see him—the way, truth, and life—face to face.