Encouragement

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Who Has Power Over Death?
John 11:17 -27 & 38 – 44


In this scripture, when Jesus arrives on the seen we find Lazarus dead and having been in his tomb several days (John 11:17). Martha believed that if Jesus had come to Bethany before Lazarus died, then Lazarus would still be alive (John 11:21). Also, she told Jesus that even in Lazarus’ death if Jesus asked God then Lazarus would live (John 11:22). Jesus told her that Lazarus would live (11:23).

Jesus declared I am the “resurrection and the life.” The only requirement to be resurrected is to believe in Jesus Christ (John 11:25).

In deed, God has power over death. Jesus proved this while he was on the earth as a man. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43 & 44). In addition, Jesus Christ raised himself from the dead (John 20:11-18).

Whoever believes in Jesus Christ will have the same opportunity, “to be raised from the dead.” It was necessary that Lazarus died so that the people could see that Jesus had power over death. This statement is based on the fact that Martha and Jews, who were with her had believed that God could have prevented Lazarus’ death. They had seen some of the previous miracles performed by Jesus (John 11:21 & 36 – 37).

Several things can be gleaned from this scripture, two of which are:

1--Jesus has Power over death.
2--What seems over and done with to man may not be over and done with to God.

Jesus has power over death. If he chooses, he can prevent death from occurring in the first place. In addition, he can resurrect once death has occurred (Mark 5:22, 35 - 43, Luke 7:11 – 17). From our perspective as men and women this falls in the spectrum of ultimate power, immortality.

On the second point, in life we will have problems at one time or another. Some of the problems will be minor and others will be gut wrenching. Each of us has or will have our own way of responding to those problems. Ideally, we should consult God for guidance in all aspects of our life. From time to time we may be tempted to give up and walk away believing that nothing else can be done to help with the problem or situation, however as Christians, we always have a source of help. That Source is Jesus Christ. We must go to him in order to get his help. We may not always receive a resurrection, but the Bible points out that all things work together for the good of Christians (Romans 8:28).

As we can see, the power over death rests with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. Anyone can benefit from this power by accepting Jesus Christ (John 3:16).

Copyright 2003, Stanley T. Crawford, is the editor of, “People of the Bible,” and webmaster of http://www.peopleofthebible.com. All Rights Reserved. mailto:[email protected]

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