The Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth

These excerpts are chapters 5 (“The Sign of Jonah”) and 6 (“A Sign of Jonah: The Resurrection of Lazarus”)



In the preceding section, we showed how Jesus was aware of his impending death as well as his resurrection that would occur three days later. While he spoke of this to his disciples, he also announced this to the religious leaders—his adversaries.
Matthew describes this event in detail. Jesus heals a demon-possessed man who is both blind and mute (Matthew 12:22). This crowds witnessing this event are astonished and begin to see Jesus as the Messiah—the Son of David (Matthew 12:23). But the most religious people in Jesus’ day, the scribes and Pharisees, claim that Jesus is performing his miracles through the power of Satan. They demand another miracle (sign).
From Matthew:
Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:39–40).

Jesus had done enough, and has had enough. He knew that the Pharisees and the religious leadership of Judaism would remain spiritually blind. They have rejected their Messiah and Son of God. He tells them he will no longer do miracles to authenticate who he is—except one. Jesus calls this the “sign of the prophet Jonah”—and it centers on resurrection. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus will die and be three days and nights in the grave. Jonah survives the three days in the giant fish—and Jesus will be resurrected after three days in the grave. This sign is intended for the Jews. It is to be the final sign authenticating Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. The sign of Jonah will be shown to the Jewish people on three occasions. Two of these have occurred. The third and final sign of Jonah will occur in the future.
We’ll briefly look at these.


The first sign of Jonah occurs just two miles from Jerusalem and just a short time before Jesus’ own death. Jesus had become close friends with Mary, her sister Martha, and their brother, Lazarus, who live in Bethany. In John 11, we are told that Lazarus had fallen ill, so Mary and Martha send word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick” (John 11:3).
Jesus knows that Lazarus has died, and he purposefully delays returning to Bethany until Lazarus has been in the tomb four days (John 11:17). The sign of Jonah is to convince the Jews of who Jesus is. We’re told that, due to Bethany’s close proximity to Jerusalem, many Jews came to console Mary and Martha on the loss of their brother (John 11:18–19).
Jesus tells Martha, “Your brother will rise again” and announces, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:23, 25–26).
He orchestrates the raising of Lazarus for the glory of God (John 11:40). Again, he is doing this as a sign.
John tells us,
Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”
After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:41–43; emphasis added).
Jesus is doing this so that those present may believe in who he is. And when he calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb, it is in a loud voice. I interpret this not relating to Lazarus being hard of hearing, but to make sure the Jews nearby understood it is the actions of Jesus that bring Lazarus forth from the grave.
This first sign of Jonah had the desired effect. John tells us, “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him” (John 11:45). Many, though, rejected Jesus and this sign and are told that, “… from that day on they plotted to kill Him” (John 11:53).
Six days before the Passover—the week of the crucifixion, Jesus returns to Bethany. We’re told:
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there. And they came not only because of Him, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus. (John 12:9–11).

The story of the raising of Lazarus is important, but it is only found in John’s Gospel. It is omitted from the Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Why?
Though speculation, it is not hard to come up with a possible reason. Lazarus was what we would call a “marked man.” The Jewish religious leadership wants to kill him. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all wrote their accounts of Jesus much earlier than John’s writing. It is possible that when they wrote their Gospels, Lazarus was still alive and they did not want to draw attention to him because of the events at Bethany. By the time John wrote his Gospel, it is possible that Lazarus had died and there were no risks to Lazarus by John sharing this story.
The raising of Lazarus created quite a stir. The next day Jesus enters Jerusalem for Passover week, and John tells us:
The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting:
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the King of Israel!” (John 12:12–13)

John adds these important words:

Meanwhile, many people continued to testify that they had been with Jesus when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead. That is also why the crowd went out to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign.
Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You can see that this is doing you no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!” (John 12:17–19; emphasis added)
Before we leave this first “sign of Jonah,” we see, once again, Jesus’ prediction of his death—and also his resurrection:
Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
The crowd standing there heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to Him.
In response, Jesus said, “This voice was not for My benefit, but yours. Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.
The crowd replied, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever. So how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of light.”
After Jesus had spoken these things, He went away and was hidden from them. (John 12:27–36)