I had a discussion the other day with a friend about raising people from the dead, and one of the things we talked about was what Jesus did.  She pointed out that Jesus didn’t raise everyone from the dead.  It’s an interesting idea, so I want to look at that as we discuss the one Jesus didn’t raise from the dead.

If we look in scripture, there are exactly twelve resurrection stories.  Of those twelve stories, four of them are ones Jesus raised from the dead.  Incidentally, the scriptures also only record four times that Jesus even encountered dead bodies.  So, then, which one is the one Jesus didn’t raise?  None of them.

One of the most common arguments people make against raising the dead is that Jesus didn’t resurrect every single person who died in his era.  Someone who makes that argument would be correct—Jesus didn’t go to every graveyard, search every mausoleum and crypt, and hunt down every remote tomb to body-snatch every single person he could find and bring them back to life.  What he did do is never back down from a situation he was presented with.

Consider this:  Jesus never turned away from anyone who asked him for help, or anyone whom he felt compassion for.  While he didn’t hang out in graveyards, he did take responsibility for that which was in front of him.  As part of Jesus’ teachings on the Mount, Matthew 5:42 expresses this fairly well saying, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”  Jesus would always give to those who asked of him, and often what they asked for was healing.  In situations where the ill individual died, he raised them from the dead.

The fact is that every single dead person Jesus was faced with that the Bible records, He did something about.  I think sometimes people read too far into the text and make assumptions about things that literally cannot be proven in any way because it doesn’t mention them one way or another.  We have no idea how many dead people Jesus actually came across in his life, as it only gives detailed records of his birth and 3 years as an adult.  We don’t technically know if Jesus came across other dead bodies during those three years that just weren’t written about.  As such, we really shouldn’t make up doctrine based on facts that we don’t have.

What we can and should do is identify what we know Jesus did, and then do that.  What we know with certainty that Jesus did based on what is written is that he addressed the problems in front of him.  If someone cried out to him for healing, he healed the person.  Sometimes Jesus seemed to pick out a single individual to heal, such as the man at Solomon’s Colonnade.  It doesn’t say Jesus healed everyone else there, so it’s possible (and likely) He didn’t.  But it also doesn’t tell us that any of them asked for help either.

At the end of the day, the goal is to emulate Jesus and be conformed into His image.  We can make a lot of excuses in life about all the people we should and shouldn’t pray for to raise the dead.  In my own life, I have very strong convictions about the subject, and while I don’t stalk funerals, if someone calls me requesting prayer to resurrect a loved one, I take it seriously and attach a level of personal responsibility to it just like I see Jesus doing in Scripture.  And at the end of the day, I think that’s probably the best way to go about it.

If you want to learn more about raising the dead, consider out the following resources:

1. Sign up for our Raise the Dead Initiative mailing list here to receive updates and connect further.

2. Get some books.  I have written two books on the subject:  Practical Keys to Raise the Dead and Faith to Raise the Dead.  Practical Keys is a series of excerpts from Faith To Raise The Dead, all of which give practical advice for when you are actively praying to raise someone at that time.  Faith To Raise The Dead goes more into theology, but has a chapter devoted to resurrection testimonies, an appendix in the back of faith-building scriptures to help you pray for the deceased to return to life, and I answer a lot of common and even difficult questions surrounding the subject.

Tyler Johnson, founder of the Dead Raising Team has written multiple books on the subject as well:  How to Raise the Dead and The Dead Are Raised. Be sure to check out Father Hebert’s encouraging book Saints Who Raised The Dead for pages upon pages of uplifting testimonies about saints in history who have raised the dead in Jesus’ name.

3. Join the Raise the Dead Initiative on Facebook.   The Raise the Dead Initiative is a group I started to help the Body of Christ grow in this area, and I will eventually develop an RDI teaching curriculum to train believers to pray for and raise the dead.  You may also be interested in The Dead Raising Team (DRT) and  Dead Raising Campaign Facebook groups.

4. Look at how you can host or attend a School of Resurrection in your area. Contact Tyler Johnson via his website at http://www.oneglance.org/ to arrange the event.  Tyler is an awesome man of God and good friend who regularly teaches Schools of Resurrection to help transform our understanding on the subject of resurrection life. He has Dead Raising Teams around the world who are ready to mobilize in their area to release the abundant life of Jesus Christ.  You can also head over to Gumroad to buy and download a complete Resurrection School Audio Series.

5. Watch/listen to David Hogan’s YouTube Series on the subject of Raising the Dead: Session 1 —  Session 2 — Session 3 — Session 4

6. Pray for and actively engage opportunities to raise the dead in your area by reaching out to friends when you hear that someone has passed away.