Richard Bewes: He says it … He does it … He is it!
No, Christ is more than someone who dispenses wonderful gifts. He IS the Gift itself – being the original source of all life. You don’t come to Jesus for gifts. You come because He is Jesus! He is the one and only universal Resurrection and the Life. He says it, He does it, He is it!
At the tomb, they’re weeping – and Jesus weeps too. So He doesn’t look down upon our sorrows in calm detachment; He has emotions too. A friend of mine described her sense of outrage as the coffin of her father was lowered into the ground. Something inside her was shouting, ‘That’s my DADDY!’ What a difference it makes that Jesus, Lord of all life, shares the grief of His friends at these epic moments.
In our story, Lazarus, the dead friend, was raised. Here was the demonstration of Christ’s authority over Old Man Death. It was apparent in every one of His commands that wonderful day: “Take away the stone!....Lazarus, come out1…. Take off the grave clothes and let him go!” This was not THE Resurrection. Lazarus would die again one day. But the event took place – as Jesus phrased it in His prayer to the Father above “that they may believe that You sent Me. ”It was also something of a curtain-raiser for what was to come – Christ’s own historic, bodily resurrection – the prototype for every one of those who follow Him through this life and into the next – never to die again!
HE SAYS IT .... HE DOES IT .... HE IS IT!