From the Dead: Patient Zero

 

Sunday is the premiere of Fear the Walking Dead which is a spin-off of my favorite TV show The Walking Dead. Admittedly, I have nightmares every Sunday night in the fall. But I've weighed the pros and cons and it is totally worth it! That show has so many dimensions. The scariest thing in the show isn't necessarily the zombies...it's the depravity of mankind. It's the loss of humanity in an attempt to preserve one's human life. And so, who's really dead? The zombies or the survivors?

But alas, this has nothing to do with my blog. Except...the new show (per internet buzz) will show us "Patient Zero." How this person became infected? Why this person? What started it all? What happens now? Well, we know what happens: zombie apocalypse. But everything else we won't be told.  Why? The creator of the show thinks that is unimportant (though, I beg to differ).

Well, for a long time I've wanted to write a blog series about resurrection from the dead (which is decidedly less spooky in biblical terms). However, there's almost no need for a series. I could just write one blog on Mark 16. Jesus.

Is this Patient Zero?

But...Jesus technically wasn't the first to rise from the dead. There were of course elements of His resurrection that are specific only to Him with impacts to all of mankind...but what about "Patient Zero?"

And so I start with an account found in 1 Kings 17. This is the first recorded account  of  a resurrection from the dead:

 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!” He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.” The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

 - 1 Kings 17:24

There is a lot going on in these verses that makes no sense unless you read the whole chapter, so I'll have to refer to some earlier verses to clarify. But here's the breakdown:

Son becomes sick and dies...Mom blames Elijah?

The woman's reaction to her son's death is rather strange, is it not? She says that Elijah showed exposed her sin, and as a result killed her son. If you believe that sin results in death (which it does), this is not so strange of a reaction. She identifies Elijah as the "man of God" but she doesn't identify herself as a "woman" of God. She is a Gentile. A heathen. A sinner. Without God. How do I know? Well, inference. When Elijah first shows up (during a severe drought) to ask this woman for water and bread she says:

“As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 

- 1 Kings 17:12

She self-identified God as someone who had nothing to do with her. So here she is, a sinner, exposed in the presence of God's prophet. And her son dies. This must be recompense for her sins. A+B=C. 

Elijah then...Blames God?
So Elijah takes the boy up to his room to pray. And he puts everything on God. Everything. "Lord, you made him die." And then, "Lord, let his life return to him." I really love this phrase: "let the child's life return to him." It makes our lives sound alive even after they've left. Like it goes somewhere, and God directs its comings and its goings. And Elijah prays a prayer that acknowledges this fact. And the boy is revived! 

Elijah takes him down and presents him alive to his mother.

The Mom's Reaction

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

She just became a believer. I find this to be amazing because she'd already witnessed a daily miracle in her home. When Elijah came, she was on her last handful of flour. Her last drop of oil. She and her son were going to die, and Elijah asked for bread promising her that her flour and oil wouldn't run out. And so, unbeknownst to her, when she gave her finite resources over into the hand of the Lord...she gained access to an infinite resource. 

But..."NOW" she knows? 

Yes, because this is more than flour and oil. Now she knows that God is life. That God is the source of life. And that He commands life. And that's a huge deal. We often say that nothing is sure except death and taxes.

...what if it's just taxes? 

Personal Takeaways

Great story, but what does this have to do with me? Quick conclusion:

We're a lot like the Mom

But...there's a bridge. The Grace Bridge.

The mistress of the house has already acted in faith by giving Elijah the bread and water, and letting him crash at her place. She's already experienced the miracle of the never-ending oil and flour. Yet, she still expects her sins to be her downfall and ruin. She still expects her sins to separate her from God and result in ultimate punishment.

We are the same. We have already put our faith in Christ. We have already experienced His mercy, grace, and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. And yet, we can get so discouraged by sins. We often still expect separation and punishment...when we've already been accepted.

We need to be more like Elijah

I like the idea of blaming God for everything. Not in an accusatory "how dare you?" type of way. However, I think we need to always acknowledge God's sovereignty and the reality of "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away." The scripture says not a single sparrow falls from the sky apart from the will of God (Matthew 10:29)...so He's a hands-on God and is directing the comings and goings of your life.

Yet, Elijah knows that prayer changes thing. I give up on prayer on a regular basis. But I try it again on regular basis too! He prayed three times, which showed some persistence, and belief that God could and would do this thing.

And finally, it builds faith to read these stories. Just like the woman had faith firsthand, we can have it secondhand. Experiencing the resurrection of Patient Zero.