I Believe

Raising Lazarus

A/N: Hey guys! This is my first attempt at writing out things that happened in the Bible like I'm seeing it through my own eyes. Each chapter will be a miracle of faith performed by Jesus in the New Testament. The miracles will not be in the same order as they are recorded in the Bible. :)

Zeke is a made up character. I wanted to write this like a personal witness would, so I came up with a random character, although this is not in first person. Please read the actual Bible story with each chapter! I put the passages of Scripture at the beginning and end so it would be easy to look up.

By the way, the song on the right is basically the theme for all of these miracles. Faith can do so much, but it's so rarely found in a person. The song is called "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless.

John 11:1-45

Vs. 25: Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

"He's too late."

These were the only words that Zeke was hearing as he wandered through the dusty streets of Bethany. He walked by two old women with wrinkled, withered faces, and his curiosity was aroused when he heard their gossip.

"Did you hear? Lazarus died!"

"Oh, yes. His poor sisters!"

"And Jesus still hasn't showed up! It's been four days since the death!"

Here, the second lady snorted.

"And he calls himsef a family friend! Bah."

"Oh, yes. Family friends are often family enemies! Why, I once knew someone whose niece's husband's cousin twice removed was....."

Zeke lost interest in their gossip and moved on in a restless manner from the spot where he had been standing. As he walked, he thought. Lazarus. There had been talk of nothing else all week. As the rumors went, he had fallen ill, and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were beside themselves with worry. They sent a message to Jesus telling Him that "the one he loved was sick", but Jesus had not arrived. In fact, as the old ladies had been saying, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already, and still not the slightest sign of the so-called Messiah. There had been much talk about Jesus recently.... how he had turned water to wine, how he had made the blind to see, and those who had been crippled for life to walk. But restoring a man to life? Impossible.

Maybe, Zeke mused silently as he walked, The message did not reach Jesus, and he isn't aware that Lazarus has died. But if he is the Messiah, wouldn't he already know?

Distracted by this confusing thought, Zeke forgot to look where he was going, and all of the sudden, he was bumping heavily into a white-robed man and falling to the ground. 

He scrambled to his feet and started to apologize, but trailed off as he looked into the stranger's eyes. They were the kindest he had ever seen, and every feature on this man was perfect. It wasn't just a hard, cold, beauty. It was gentle, compassionate, warm. It went farther than just fair to look upon. The mouth looked like it had been made to smile at children and bestow kind words upon hurting people. The hands radiated the miraculous power of healing, but most of all, Zeke was drawn to this man's eyes. They seemed to shine with a love so deep, so overpowering, that it was as if such things as fighting, hatred, and pain never existed. Instantly, Zeke knew that this was no ordinary man.

"Jesus?" he tried to speak strongly, but noticed with a cringe that his voice squeaked on the second syllable. The man smiled.

"Yes," was all he said. Zeke stood transfixed by the perfection of his voice. His mind was racing. He had so many questions. Had he received the message? Why was he four days too late? Would he bring Lazarus back to life? Did he even have the power to do that? The young boy opened his mouth to ask these things, but was stopped short as a young woman with a tearful face ran up the dusty road and fell down, weeping, in front of Jesus. Zeke backed up a few feet and stared at the woman. She clung to Jesus' robes, and spoke, sobbing.

"Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died."

Zeke nodded to himself. Of course! This was Mary or Martha!

Jesus lifted the woman's face and stared at her gently.

"He is asleep."

"No, Lord," she replied sadly. "He died four days ago."

"Thy brother shall rise again," he said, helping her up, and, again, Zeke was struck by the silent power of this man's voice.

"I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?"

The woman nodded, but just barely.

"Thou art the Christ," she whispered. "The son of the living God."

After saying this, she ran back down the dusty road, and it was only then that Zeke realized that they weren't even in Bethany. He had wandered rather far down the street before bumping into Jesus. They weren't very far from the town though, as the boy could see, when another woman ran down the street. This one bore a close resemblance to the other one, and, of course, was the other sister. She too was crying, but her grief was gentler, and she said the exact same thing her sister had said.

"Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died."

Jesus helped her up off the street and they began walking toward town.

"Where have you laid him?" he asked softly.

The sister led him to a tomb, where a group of Jews were standing solemnly, and the first sister was there also.

"Mary!" she cried out when she saw them..... Zeke made a quick mental note.

Okay, the first one is Martha, the second, Mary.

Jesus turned and looked at the group of people...... and he wept. Whispers swept through the people.

"He must have loved him very much."

"Then he should have been here."

"He was too late."

Zeke started growing angry with the comments, and he noticed that the crowd was growing bigger and bigger. 

Jesus probably had a very good reason why he hadn't been there! He just.... didn't want to explain why.

This was what the boy thought, but he too soon felt the pangs of doubt. Could Jesus really bring Lazarus back to life?

"Behold," Jesus spoke. At once, the crowd hushed.

"Take away the stone," he commanded. A group of men rolled away the stone. 

"Lazarus..... come forth!"

Everybody held their breath, and for one awful moment, Zeke thought that nothing would happen, but then, dirty, dusty, and wrapped in linen, Lazarus exited the tomb.

Mary and Martha stood, stunned for a moment, but then ran into their brother's arms, weeping for joy. Excited, loud whispering raced through the people of Bethany, shock filling the warm air.

Zeke stared in awe at Jesus, this man who had the power to make the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the dead to live, and he realized something. Jesus had not raised Lazarus from the dead to prove anything. He had done it to reflect the power of who he was, who his father was. God. As Martha had said earlier, he was the Christ, the son of the living God. No longer were the people of Bethany doubting. Instead, many of them made the greatest decision of their lives. They believed. Believed in who Jesus was, what he had been sent to do, what he could do, and most of all, believed that he was God's own son.

And that, Zeke knew, was exactly what had just happened to him.

He believed.

John 11:1-45

Vs. 45: Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.