Our faith is rarely tested unless a display of the resurrection power of Jesus has been demonstrated. The power of resurrection is the primary evidence of God’s love. The traction created by that demonstration will threaten the powers of evil currently being employed to control people. As that control is threatened, the controllers will respond in an attempt to silence that witness.

One of the most notable demonstrations of freedom was seen in the resurrection of Lazarus. We rightly marvel at what happened that day. While the event captures our imagination and bolsters our faith, it creates other issues. The religious leaders saw the evidence of a move of God taking place in the city, “Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen” (John 11:45). That was the final straw for the religious leaders. Because of the testimony it created, they decided to kill Jesus to silence Him and disperse His followers.

At that moment of realization, something changed in the minds of those in control, “So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death” (vs. 53). The desire to kill Jesus had expanded to include the person used by the Lord to demonstrate His truth – Lazarus. “Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus” (12:10). The miracle produced a growing crowd of believers who lined the city streets to welcome Jesus as he entered the city riding atop a donkey moving along a street covered in palm branches. “That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. Then the religious leaders said to each other, ‘There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!” (12:18-19). The religious leaders were losing their control over the people, and they decided to act. 

Whenever a controlling group of people, whether religious or civic, feel like they are losing their control over people, they will attempt to silence, censor, and discredit the message of Jesus. If those attempts fail, they will try to destroy the ones declaring the message and its followers. 

As the level of our complacency is challenged by the miracles of God and we truly begin to live a resurrected life, new enemies of our faith will rise to destroy our testimony. Our weapon in this conflict is our belief in the resurrection power of Jesus that can raise us above our natural responses to evil, something only displayed by those whom the Lord has called out of darkness into the light of a resurrected day.