The Hand of the Lord Raises the Dead

Lent is about repentance of sin and faith in God’s forgiveness. When we confess our sins, we normally think about the wrongs we have committed, whether in thoughts, words, or deeds, as well as the good things we have failed to do. But sin is no simple or temporary issue. Sin is a matter of life and death; as we were reminded on Ash Wednesday, “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The ultimate punishment for sin is death. God’s ultimate salvation is, as we confess in the Nicene Creed, “the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” Already in the Old Testament, the hand of the Lord raised individuals who had died, as at the hands of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Everyone believed that the Messiah, the Savior, would raise the dead when He came.