DRAWN NOT DRAGGED Did Christ really command the Church to raise the dead? PART A

Jesus says: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give”  Matthew 10:8

The immediate reaction to this verse is usually: “Surely Jesus means the Apostles.”
Or: “Surely He means physically dead people.”
Yet the text itself is uncomfortable because our Saviour gives the command without qualification:
“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

The Church Fathers/Saints generally do not spend a great deal of time debating whether Jesus really meant it.
They accept He did.
The question becomes: in what sense? There are several layers.

The obvious layer: physical resurrection
Certainly Christ empowered the Apostles to raise the dead.
We see this in Scripture:
St. Peter raises Tabitha.  Acts 9:36–43
St. Paul raises Eutychus. Acts 20:7–12

Numerous saints are remembered as instruments of similar miracles.
St. Nicholas of Myra (270–343)
St. John of Kronstadt (1829–1908)
So one cannot simply explain the command away.
Christ meant exactly what He said.
The Kingdom of God is invading the realm of death itself.

Another layer: all Church ministry is resurrection ministry
The Church has always understood sin as a kind of death.
Remember the father of the prodigal son: “This son of mine was dead and is alive again.”
The youth was not biologically dead. Yet he had passed from death toward life.
Every baptism is a raising of the dead.
Every absolution is a raising of the dead.
Every restoration of hope is a raising of the dead.
Every person delivered from despair is a raising of the dead.
St. Paul writes: “You were dead through your trespasses and sins.”
Not sick…Not struggling…Dead. And Christ made you alive.

Then comes the disturbing possibility
If Christ truly means what He says, perhaps we have narrowed the Gospel too much.
Christians these days often read: Feed the hungry…Visit the sick…Comfort the grieving.
And feel reasonably comfortable.
But: Raise the dead.
That sounds impossible.
Exactly! Which is rather the point.

The entire mission Christ gives is impossible apart from Him.
Sarah cannot produce Isaac. The Apostles cannot raise the dead. St. Paul cannot justify himself.
The Psalmist cannot repay God. The command draws us back to dependence.

A question: When was the last time you prayed for something that required resurrection?
Not improvement. Not assistance. Not a little encouragement. Resurrection.
A broken marriage. An addiction. A dead faith. A shattered relationship.
A heart that has stopped hoping. A congregation that has lost its first love.
A soul convinced she or he is beyond saving.

Do we still believe Christ raises the dead?
Or have we quietly reduced the Gospel to helping the slightly inconvenienced?
I remember a mentor, Fr. Tom Hopko, giving a talk on the mission of the Church.
Commenting on this verse, he paused over the words “raise the dead” and then simply added: “And He meant it.”
Fr. Tom was known for dropping a hot potato into a roomand then calmly moving on to the next sentence.
But he was speaking the truth in love.
Christ Jesus meant it.
Not because the Church possesses spiritual power of her own.
Not because Christians can manufacture miracles.
But because the One giving the command is Himself the Resurrection and the Life.

The command sounds absurd until Easter morning.
After Easter, it sounds like Monday.
And that is exactly what today is.
Lord help us to be patient and humble for PART B!