THE RESURRECTION HOPE IS SURE!

God's Son Raised the Dead

God's Son,  Jesus Christ, has given us sound reasons for believing that the dead can be resurrected, (but only Jehovah and Jesus Christ can do this ) with the prospect of everlasting life.  An incident that occurred near the city of Nain can help  us to realize that such a miracle is possible through God-given power.  On one occasion,  Jesus met mourners carrying the body of a young man out of the city for burial.  He was the only child of a widow. Jesus told her:  "Stop weeping." Then he touched the bier and said:  "Young man, I say to  you, Get up!"  At that he sat up and spoke.  (Luke 7:11-15)  This miracle certainly bolsters our conviction that the resurrection hope is sure.

Consider, too, an event involving Jairus, a presiding officer of the synagogue in Capernaum.  He asked Jesus to come and help his beloved 12-year-old daughter, who lay near death. Soon it was reported that the girl had died.  Urging grief-stricken Jairus to exercise faith, Jesus accompanied him to his home where a crowd was weeping.  They laughed when Jesus told them:  "The young child has not died, but is sleeping."  She was indeed dead, but Jesus was about to show that people can be raised to life just as they can be awakened from a deep sleep.  Taking the girl by the hand, he said:  "Girl, get up!"  She rose instantly, and "her parents were beside themselves" with ecstasy.  (Mark 5:35-43; Luke 8:49-56) Undoubtedly, family members will be beside themselves"  when their dead loved ones  are raised to life on earth.

Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus approached his tomb and had the stone at its entrance removed.   After praying publicly so that observers would know that he depended on God-given power, Jesus said in a loud voice:  "Lazarus, come on out!" And out he came!  His hands and feet were still bound with burial wrappings, and his face was covered with a cloth.  "Loose him and let him go," said Jesus.  Seeing this miracle, many who were there to comfort Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, put faith in Jesus.  (John 11:1-45)  Does not  this account fill you with hope that your loved ones may be raised to life in God's new world? 

When John the Baptizer was in prison, Jesus sent him this heartening message:  "The blind are seeing again, . . .and the dead, are being raised up."  (Matthew 11:4-6) Since Jesus when on earth resurrected the dead, he can surely do so as a mighty spirit creature empowered by God. Jesus is "the resurrection and the life," and how comforting it is to know that in the near future  "all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out!"  -John 5:28, 29; 11:25.

Next time: Other Resurrections Strengthen Our Hope

Watchtower, 2000