Was there a significance of Jesus raising lazarus from the dead?

Answer 1

There are a few different reasons that Jesusresurrected people from the dead (or performedother miracles). These include:

• To demonstrate the unlimited power of Jehovah God
• To point to God's Kingdom as the only way to receive blessings
• To identify himself as the Messiah and future King of God's Kingdom.
• To demonstrate what he can and will do as the King of God's Kingdom

Primarily, Jesus used this power to direct people to the good news of God's Kingdom. That through a dedicated relationship with Almighty God, that people can receive the full blessings He has promised. This included the promise that people could return to the perfection that Adam enjoyed and not suffer from any sickness or death.

Jesus came to earth to restore mankind's relationship with God.

(Genesis 1:28) It was God's original purpose for mankind was for them to live in a paradise on earth. (Romans 5:12) But Adam and Eve sinned, so that original purpose was thwarted. The question is, where would Adam and Eve be if they did not sin? The answer: here on earth.

Jesus had performed other resurrections before he resurrected Lazarus. Other resurrections were done within a very short time of death. But with Lazarus, the situation was different.

Jesus says something very important on this occasion. Lazarus had been dead for four days and was buried. For this type of resurrection to take place, many would really see and believe in the power of God and that his son Jesus had the authority to use it.

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

John Chapter One:

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus1 Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany,a the village of Mary and her sister Martha.2 Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 3 So the sisters sent word to him, saying, "Master, the one you love is ill."4 When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death,* but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. 7Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." 8 The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day,d he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 He said this, and then told them, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him." 12 So the disciples said to him, "Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved." 13 But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. 14 So then Jesus said to them clearly, "Lazarus has died. 15 And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him." 16 So Thomas, called Didymus,* said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go to die with him." 17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles* away. 19 And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.i22 [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise." 24 Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day."j25 Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, "The teacher is here and is asking for you."29 As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. 31 So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed* and deeply troubled, 34 and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Sir, come and see." 35 And Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him." 37 But some of them said, "Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?"

38 So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father,* I thank you for hearing me. 42 I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me." 43 And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice,* "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."

45 Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

A few other things to note:

4 When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death,* but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Jesus gives glory to His Father

11 He said this, and then told them, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him."

Jesus referred to Lazarus as sleeping (in death), not as if he had moved on to another place

(Ecclesiastes 9:5)5 For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all,.

14 So then Jesus said to them clearly, "Lazarus has died. 15 And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him."

Jesus sees a special opportunity to prove that he is the Messiah

24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."

The Israelites at that time believed that if they died, they would be resurrected at a later time on the earth to live in the promised paradise

27She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

Mary already understands that Jesus is the Messiah - the Son of God

40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?"

Jesus identified the source of his power - from Almighty God

45 Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

After witnessing this display of power, many began to believe in him as the promised Messiah.