Jamin Bradley

The lights on the stage went dark, and a short moment later, Coldplay appeared at the back of the stadium to play an acoustic song feet away from the audience in the back of the room. The crowd cheered as the song started, but it soon became uncomfortable as we watched one guy spend 5 minutes awkwardly trying to touch Chris Martin as much as possible.

Jesus also had to face this dynamic after being gifted with the incredible ability to heal all sick people. The spiritual gift of healing is a fearful thing, for many people are connected to a sick person at any given moment, which gives you instant fame. That being said, it’s no surprise that Jesus sometimes tried not to raise awareness of his power in different areas. Otherwise, a crowd would press in around him that would effectively stop him from being able to do anything else.

For this reason, I think Jesus tried to trick one particular crowd he ministered to. A young girl had just passed away, and a whole crowd was already weeping over her loss. Jesus knew just as well as anyone that she was dead, but he tried to calm the crowd, insisting that she was only sleeping. He then moved the crowd outside of the room, raised her back to life in front of her mom, dad, and his disciples, and then told them not to tell anyone. The insiders knew the truth: she was dead but now she’s alive. The outsiders would be given a different narrative: she was in a coma of sorts and Jesus healed her.

Why create this illusion? Look at how big the crowd is of people who know sick people. Can you imagine how big the crowd would be of people who know dead people? Consider the terrifying image of people digging up their dead friends and relatives to bring before Jesus for healing. Add to this the fact that not everyone always celebrates incredible healing power. Don’t forget: it was Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead that caused the religious leaders to decide to kill both him and Lazarus.