Dead Guy Jumps Right Back Out of Grave!

by Tad Lindley

It couldn’t have happened around here, because we put people in caskets and lock the casket shut when we bury them, but things were different in ancient Israel. People’s bodies were wrapped in cloth and spices to control the stink. Then they were put in a tomb, a chamber carved into the rock which was covered with a stone to keep animals out. Insects and bacteria would then remove everything, but the skeleton. When the skeleton was cleaned up, the bones would be put into an ossuary, a box that compactly stored the bones. The tomb could then be reused for someone else.

Dead guy jumps back out!

One time some men were taking the body of their friend to the tombs. They saw an enemy raiding party coming in the distance, and so they just threw the friend’s dead body into the closest tomb. It turns out that the last person to use that closest tomb was the prophet, Elisha. Elisha’s bones were still in there, and when they threw their buddy’s dead body in there, it hit the bones of Elisha, and their buddy came out alive, and the whole bunch of them took off running from the approaching enemies! (if you don’t believe me, see II Kings 13:21)

Am I dead yet?

I cannot help but read II Kings 13:21 and think about how it applies to us almost 3,000 years later. You see when you read Romans 6, there are 17 references to death. For example, Romans 6:2 God forbid, shall we that are dead to sin dwell therein any longer? Am I dead yet? Have I died to sin? Have I made a choice to walk away from my past life and to serve Jesus instead? Death to sin is repentance, when we who have been walking away from God do a 180º turn and beginning walking towards him.

Have I been buried?

If I am dead to sin, I need to be buried. That burial is water baptism. Watch this: Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death… (Romans 6:3-4) I was baptized in Jesus’ name at age 28. I repented of my sin, and then I was buried with Him in baptism. How about you? If you have repented of your sin, have you also been buried with Jesus in water baptism?

Don’t bury them until they are dead

When Christianity became the officially recognized religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century suddenly it became convenient for people who were not dead to sin to go ahead and get baptized. Infant baptism became a thing. But without repentance and the operation of faith in God, baptism is just getting dunked under water. We don’t bury people until they are dead. A baby has not sinned and therefore cannot repent. Some of you may be like I was at one point: “I was baptized as a baby, so I’ve already been baptized.” There are a couple of problems with that line of thought: 1) infant baptism is extremely rare, far more common is infant sprinkling, 2) infants are not dead to sin, they were born in sin (Psalm 51:5), but they have not repented yet.

Walking up out of that grave

I shorted you on Romans 6:4 earlier. Here it is in its entirety: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. That is pretty exciting! If we die out to sin in repentance, and we are buried with him in water baptism, then we will walk in a new life. The apostle, Peter, summed it up like this, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Just like the anonymous man who became the prophet Elisha’s last miracle, if you are obedient to the plan of salvation laid out in the Bible, you too will feel like you have experienced your own miracle of God!

Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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