Cover of The Weekly Show - Episode 120: The Dead Walk: The Bible’s Strangest Resurrections

The Weekly Show - Episode 120: The Dead Walk: The Bible’s Strangest Resurrections

The Weekly Show - Episode 120: The Dead Walk: The Bible’s Strangest Resurrections

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Join Tim and John for this week's episode, as they talk about The Bible’s Strangest Resurrections. Key Scripture: Matthew 27:50–53 Theme: People Who Died...and Then Got Back Up Big Idea: For the Christian, death doesn’t get the final word. “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised...” — Matthew 27:52 Introduction October is the time of year when skeletons start appearing in front yards, graveyards become decorations, and stories about the dead walking suddenly become seasonal entertainment. But there are actually stories in the Bible where the dead do walk again. And some of them are downright strange. We know the famous ones. Jesus raises Lazarus. Jairus’s daughter is restored to life. But those aren’t the only resurrection stories in Scripture. Elijah stretches himself over a dead child and cries out to God. Elisha raises another child under unusual circumstances. A dead man is thrown into Elisha’s grave, touches the prophet’s bones, and immediately stands back up. And then we get to Matthew 27. Jesus dies. An earthquake strikes. Tombs open. And dead saints are raised and later walk into Jerusalem. That’s one of those passages where you can read the Bible for years and suddenly stop and say: “Wait. What did that just say?” Today we’re looking at some of the Bible’s strangest resurrection accounts. But this isn’t really an episode about biblical zombies. In fact, these stories are something very different. They’re signs pointing us toward one of the greatest truths of Christianity: Death is powerful, but God is more powerful. And ultimately, all these smaller resurrection stories point toward the resurrection that changes everything: Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Because He lives, death doesn’t get the final word. Elijah and the Widow’s Son One of the earliest resurrection accounts in Scripture appears in 1 Kings 17. God sends Elijah to stay with a widow in Zarephath during a severe drought. She and her son are nearly out of food when Elijah arrives. God miraculously provides for them so that their flour and oil do not run out. Then something devastating happens. The widow’s son becomes sick. His illness grows worse until: “...there was no breath left in him.” — 1 Kings 17:17 The boy dies. The widow is heartbroken. Elijah takes the child upstairs, lays him on his bed, and cries out to God. Then Elijah stretches himself over the child three times and prays: “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And God answers. The boy lives. Elijah carries him downstairs and tells his mother: “See, your son lives.” What Does This Story Show Us? There’s something important about this first resurrection account. Elijah doesn't have power over death in himself. He prays. God raises the child. The miracle points beyond Elijah to the God Elijah serves. The widow responds: “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.” The resurrection confirms God’s power and the truth of His Word. And it establishes a pattern we’ll see again. Death appears to have ended the story. Then God intervenes. Elisha and the Shunammite Woman’s Son A similar story appears in 2 Kings 4. A woman from Shunem regularly provides hospitality for the prophet Elisha. She and her husband even prepare a small room for him. The woman has no son, and her husband is old. Elisha tells her that she will have a child. And she does. Years later, the boy goes out to his father in the fields and suddenly cries: “Oh, my head, my head!” He is carried back to his mother. She holds him until noon. Then he dies. Imagine the heartbreak. This is the child she had never expected to have. The child God had given her. And now he's gone. The woman immediately goes looking for Elisha. Elisha Raises the Boy Elisha eventually comes to the house. He enters the room where the boy is lying and shuts the door. Then: He prays. Like Elijah before him, Elisha stretches himself over the child. The boy’s body becomes warm. Elisha walks around the house and then returns. He stretches himself over the child again. And suddenly: The boy sneezes seven times. Then he opens his eyes. Of all the ways Scripture could describe somebody returning from the dead, this may be one of the most memorable. Seven sneezes. Eyes open. Alive. Elisha calls the boy’s mother and says: “Pick up your son.” Again, the prophet isn't the source of life. God is. The Dead Man and Elisha’s Bones And then we arrive at one of the strangest stories in the entire Old Testament. It only takes two verses. 2 Kings 13:20–21. Elisha dies and is buried. Later, some Israelites are burying another man. While they're doing this, they see a band of Moabite raiders approaching. Apparently they need to leave quickly. So they throw the dead man into Elisha’s grave. And then: “...as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he ...
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