The Man Who Died Twice

Lent Day 35

“The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth.”

— John 11:44—

Death is by far the worst thing that we experience, but there are those recorded in the Bible who died twice. Lazarus and the rest of the “sleepers” that Jesus brings back to life are an interesting group to consider.

Jesus brings Lazarus back to mortal life, and consequently Lazarus will die again. The same applies to Jairus’s daughter (Mk. 5:35-43) and the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), and those revived by God’s power through the prophets Elijah (1 Kings 17:7-24) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:8-37).¹

These individuals are interesting. First, they die more than once during their life. Second, Christ’s submission to death is evidenced by his raising them from the dead. Third, the cost of being touched by God exacts more than we expect. This last point, we will cover later when we read John 16. For our purposes, though, we will focus mainly on Lazarus.

According to the text, Lazarus was clearly ill (Jn. 11:4). His family, friends, and enemies all recognized that Jesus had healed a blind man, but did not save his friend. Psalm 88, often called the “Dark Night of the Soul”, asks all the questions that both the good and the bad ask in this passage in John.

Because of you my acquaintances shun me; 
    you make me loathsome to them; 
Caged in, I cannot escape; 
    my eyes grow dim from trouble. 
All day I call on you, Lord; 
    I stretch out my hands to you. 
Do you work wonders for the dead? 
    Do the shades arise and praise you? 
Ps. 88:9-11 

How often did Lazarus’ family pray something like this? We know their hearts were longing for Jesus to come, and yet he did not. Lazarus is one of those rare souls who shows us that to follow God is to give our life and death to him. Ironically, we see that his return will be a “life for a life” exchange.

Submission

John tells us that Jesus loves this family. So why does Jesus delay? Because our lives are not our own, and they exist first and foremost to reveal God’s glory, both in life and death. As Jesus said,

“This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God…Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe you sent me.”

Jn. 11:4; 11:41-42

There is a passage in the Old Testament that says, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.” In the context of Lazarus, we see that Jesus demonstrates that he not only makes people see (Jn. 10), but that he is the one who gives and takes away.

“Lazarus, come out!” Jesus commands. The stone is rolled away, and a man tied up in burial clothes exits the tomb. The tomb is empty, but ironically, in exchange for Lazarus’ life, The Life will have to die.

The God of heaven became man; the Light of the World enters into our darkness so that we may see; The Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; Just as Moses parts the Red Sea and leads Israel through the waters of chaos, so Jesus, The Way, makes a path through the darkness of death. The question is before us: are we willing to obey him, even unto death, even if that means we die twice?

— DR

1. Martin, F., & Wright, W. M. (2015). The Gospel of John. Baker Academic. 210-211.