Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with gravesclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. John 11:40, 43-44

The soft sounds of weeping surrounded the house of Martha and Mary in the town of Bethany. Many of the Jews had come to their house to comfort them, and mourn together with them on the demise of Lazarus, their beloved brother. The word “demise” means death. Lazarus was dead, and had already been laid in the burial cave. Both Martha and Mary were still mourning in their hearts though it had been four days since his death.

The two sisters knew of Jesus’ power to heal sicknesses. They had seen Him heal many people of diverse sicknesses before, even an adult who had been born blind. This was the reason which caused them to notify Jesus when Lazarus fell ill, and they wanted Him to come and heal their brother. But Jesus did not come before he died. As such, when Martha received news that Jesus was coming to Bethany, she rushed out of the house to meet Him, and told Him, “If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Mary also said the same words to Jesus when they met (John 11:21 & 32). Both sisters were so confident that Jesus could heal their brother’s sickness because they had witnessed His healing power before.

Now that their brother had died, they were very sad. They did not know that their brother’s death was allowed by God to bring glory to Himself, and to show them that He has the power over life and death. They did not know that Jesus has the power to give life. It had never crossed their minds that their brother would live again.

No man is capable of giving life to a dead person. Needless to say, it is impossible to raise a man who has been dead for four days! But the Bible tells us that Jesus did just that. He is omnipotent! The word “omnipotent” means having unlimited power. Only the living and true God has such power. At His command, the dead Lazarus came forth from the burial cave, still covered and bound with his graveclothes.

Jesus has the power to give life to Lazarus again because He is God. Both Martha and Mary were very happy to see their brother alive again. Many of the Jews who witnessed Jesus display His power of giving life, believed on Him. May this study on the omnipotence of Jesus cause you to believe on Him, and receive life eternal!