“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” So wrote Benjamin Franklin to the French Physicist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789. Although it does not appear that Franklin was the originator of the phrase pertaining to the certainty of death and taxes, it was very likely his use of it that made the phrase popular. And it is a rather timely phrase, not only because the deadline for filing taxes is right around the corner, but also because two of the three readings in worship this same Sunday reminded us of the certainty of death.
In the Gospel of John (ch.11), we hear of Lazarus, whose resurrection from the dead is arguably the most well-known biblical account of a person being raised from the dead – outside of Jesus himself, of course. In 2 Kings, we find a much less familiar account of an unnamed boy of unnamed parents who was raised by the prophet Elisha. While the two accounts do relate to the Benjamin Franklin quote, Franklin’s words also demonstrate something else: man’s inability to provide any real hope or comfort in the face of death.
Admittedly, one could argue that offering comfort or hope is not the intent of the Franklin quote. True, but couldn’t that just as easily be because that’s all the world can offer regarding death – no hope or comfort – just the certainty that death will come to each of us one day?
You’ve very likely experienced the world’s inability to offer any hope or comfort if you’ve wrestled with the death of a loved one. It is a different thing to hear a non-Christian make such attempts. “Sending condolences or positive thoughts your way”, being “sorry for your loss”, and any other number of people’s personal ideas of what happens to us when we die – they all have this in common: they miss the mark terribly.
But God has plenty to say in the face of death. Better yet, God has something to show us when words can sometimes fall short: he shows us life in the face of death. God shows us that it isn’t only death and taxes that are certain, but so is life from death. So as we consider one of the ten occasions recorded in Scripture in which the dead are brought back to life, we want to be reminded that when we face death, God provides much more for us than some empty, fast-forgotten phrase: he provides life. Real life.
Though perhaps not as familiar as the other resurrection accounts in the Bible, the one before us from 2 Kings hits differently, as do any such accounts that involve children. While old age and long-lived lives ready us somewhat for the arrival of death, the death of the young increases its sting even more. But not even dying young allows death to put up such a barrier that God cannot overcome.
If we back up a few years before where we pick up in 2 Kings 4, it will provide some background. The Shunammite woman was a believer with not only the desire to support the Lord’s work but also the financial means to do so. She took on a building project to provide a place for Elisha to rest and recover as the itinerant preacher frequently traveled through her area. It was a room constructed on the top of the flat roof of her home, perhaps with its own external set of stairs to allow the prophet access to and from his room as he needed.
As an expression of gratitude, Elisha offered to put in a good word for her. After all, Elisha not only had the backing of God’s generous hand but he also held a measure of influence among some of the royal officials. After she declined his offer, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, pointed out that she had no son and the age of her husband seemed to rule out the possibility of her bearing a child in the future. So Elisha promised her that in a year’s time, she would be holding her own son in her arms. Sure enough, it happened just as Elisha said it would and the woman had a son, which is where our account picks up.
After the boy was older, “one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. He said to his father, ‘My head! My head!’ His father told a servant, ‘Carry him to his mother’” (v.18-19). Although the cause of the boy’s suffering is not clearly revealed, it’s most commonly presumed that the boy was suffering from sunstroke – not at all uncommon in the region. While sunstroke could certainly be fatal, it didn’t appear that the boy’s father presumed it was that serious at this point. Thinking his situation was still treatable, the father directed a servant to take the boy inside to his mother to be cared for. Unfortunately, it was too late, as the boy died shortly thereafter on his mother’s lap.
Mom didn’t waste any time. Placing the boy in Elisha’s bed in his room, possibly to keep avoid drawing attention to his death at this point, she made arrangements to visit the prophet Elisha. The timing surprised her husband, as there was no religious reason for her to be visiting the man of God. After the trip of between 15-20 miles, Elisha saw her arriving from a distance and sent Gehazi out to ask her if everything is alright. Determined to discuss the matter with the prophet himself and not his servant, she does what we still do today when we don’t wish to discuss our genuine feelings or concerns with someone by brushing aside any concerns with, “I’m fine.”
But we already know that she wasn’t, and that became clear immediately as she came to Elisha. After reminding the prophet that she had never asked for a son in the first place, she fully trusted Elisha to do something about his death. She showed her persistence by insisting on remaining with Elisha even after he sent Gehazi ahead to try his hand at raising the boy by laying his staff on the boy’s face.
While we don’t know the significance of this action, it has been suggested that Elisha possibly knew the staff would not do anything and was setting the stage for superstition or other means to be ruled out so that it would be clear that the Lord alone would be responsible for this miracle. Regardless, after Gehazi returned to Elisha with word of his unsuccessful attempt, God’s prophet soon after arrived at the house.
What does Elisha do first? He models for us a great first step for every occasion: he prays. He knows that any miracle that would take place would only be the work of the Lord’s hand, so he rightly takes the matter to him first. Then, perhaps because it was the same manner used by his mentor, the prophet Elijah, in raising the widow at Zarapheth’s son from the dead, Elisha stretches his body on the boy. A dead body doesn’t take long to grow cold, and we’re told that the boy’s body started to become warm.
Yet this miracle wasn’t instantaneous (did God wish to stretch Elisha’s faith, too?). Elisha paced in the room, patiently allowing the Lord to work in his own time, and then persistently repeated the same action, stretching himself on the boy again. Finally, the sign of life, for dead people don’t sneeze! “The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes” (v.35). The Shunammite’s son lived! Elisha directed his servant to call for mom to come and hold her living son, which she did after falling to the ground at Elisha’s feet in humble gratitude for this miracle.
The Lord’s hand in this account is evident. It was clearly a miracle that the boy was raised back to life in the manner he was, for there is no holistic reason or medical explanation for a life being restored by means of a living person stretching out on a dead person. No one who has died or is nearly dead is brought into a hospital’s ER so that the doctor can empty the room of all its medical equipment in favor of lying down on top of the person to save him. That’s not how it works! But, as we see in Scripture, it certainly can be how God chooses to work.
Besides the miracle itself, which is always an amazing show of God’s power, what is the point? Why are the dead raised to life in the Bible? As I wrote earlier, including Jesus’ own resurrection, we have ten occasions in the Bible on which dead people are raised to life. But why?
Through these miracles, God tightens the connection between his physical and spiritual promises. What we see happen physically when God raises the dead solidifies for us the reality of what God also promises spiritually.
We are all born dead in sin, but made alive only through faith in Christ (Eph. 2). As true as this spiritual truth is, it’s not always easy for us to grasp abstract spiritual truths. So what does God do? He shows us his power over physical death. He demonstrates what is possible by taking a lifeless corpse and making it alive.
What he has done physically he does for us spiritually. And because we believe he has brought us to life spiritually, we in turn have the confidence that he will do it for us physically. Do you see the relationship?
God alone gives life to the dead – both spiritually and physically. We have the assurance of this because we believe. We have faith, the same faith in God as the Shunammite woman, very likely on the mind of the writer of Hebrews who wrote, “[By faith] Women received back their dead, raised to life again” (Heb. 11:35). Faith fills us with the doubly-blessed assurance of spiritual life and physical life forever.
Outside of faith, there is no such guarantee. Outside of faith, a person may appear to be very much physically alive while at the same time remaining spiritually dead. If that person remains spiritually dead when he or she physically dies, the final result will be eternal death in hell. There will be no more opportunities for spiritual life after this physical life is over. This life, our “time of grace” as it is often called, is the time God has allotted for us to be made spiritually alive through faith. It is the time for us to see who Jesus is, what he has done, and to believe that as our Savior, he alone offers spiritual and eternal life to all who believe.
At what cost? The events of Holy Week remind us, as the Holy Spirit takes us from the hosannas of Palm Sunday to the heartache of Good Friday. Jesus died so that there could be life for the dead. And in Jesus, that is what we have: life. And we aren’t just talking of spiritual life, but physical life. Real life. Eternal life. Through Jesus, death will not be your end, for he gives life for the dead.