Raising the Dead through Laying on of Hands

At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.

(Acts 9:36-42)

 We commented earlier on the significance that every account of healing mentioned in the book of Acts showed believers ministering to the unsaved. The reason for that is because the ministry of Laying on of Hands, as far as healing is concerned, is meant primarily for the unsaved. Unlike healing however, the ministry of Laying on of Hands to raise the dead, only works for believers and children under the age of thirteen; it does not work for the unsaved.

There are ten accounts in scripture of people being raised from the dead. Of the ten accounts, six involved the ministry of Laying on of Hands; the Lord Jesus raised two, the Lord’s prophets (Old Testament) raised two children, and the Lord’s apostles (New Testament) raised two disciples.

In this section we will only discuss the two accounts recorded in the book of Acts, because the book of Acts is given to the church as a template for ministry; nevertheless the principles discussed in this section remain the same for all the scriptural accounts.

It is significant that only the Lord Jesus and His apostles and prophets have been used in this ministry. The reason for that is the degree of anointing required to raise people from the dead. Other than the Lord Jesus, it is only His apostles and prophets that carry that degree of anointing. In that regard, we have already mentioned the residual anointing in Elisha’s bones that brought the young man back to life (2 Kings 13:20-21).

In both accounts in the book of Acts, the individuals raised from the dead were believers. Why is that? The reason is simple. When believers die, their spirits depart to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven, because of which, their spirits can return to the earth to re-enter their bodies if the Lord allows them to return.

Unlike believers however, it is not possible to raise unbelievers from the dead. The reason is when they die God casts their spirits into Hell (Luke 12:5), for which Jesus holds the keys (Revelation 1:18).  God has decreed that all that are cast into Hell are reserved under punishment for the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:9), therefore until that time none are allowed to return to the earth.

The first incident in the book of Acts quoted above is a record of the Apostle Peter raising the disciple Dorcas from the dead. So how did Peter do that? The first thing Peter did was to put everyone out of the room. Peter did that because raising the dead requires faith with no presence of doubt. Peter learnt that lesson when he watched Jesus putting everyone out of the room before He raised the little girl from the dead (Mark 5:40-42).

Once Peter was alone with the body of Dorcas, he then prayed in faith for the Lord to return Dorcas’ spirit. Clearly Peter’s level of faith was sufficient to bring about the miracle of raising the dead and Jesus allowed Dorcas’ spirit to return and re-enter her body.

There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, "Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him." Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.

(Acts 20:8-12)

The second incident in the book of Acts quoted above is a record of the Apostle Paul raising the disciple Eutychus from the dead. Paul’s incident was a little different to Peter’s. In Paul’s case, no one expected him to do what he did; Paul just went down, fell on the young man and raised him from the dead. Because no one expected Paul to do what he did, no one present had any time to express any doubt before Paul acted.

The Lord Jesus did the same thing when He raised the young man from the dead in the city of Nain. When Jesus stopped the funeral procession no one suspected that Jesus was going to raise him from the dead. And so even though there were many people present on that occasion, there was no unbelief manifested to hinder that miracle from happening (Luke 7:11-15).

I mentioned earlier that only believers and children under the age of thirteen can be raised from the dead. We have discussed the reason why believers can be raised, but what about children under thirteen? The reason children can be raised from the dead is because, being deemed innocent in God’s eyes, their spirits ascend into heaven when they die (2 Samuel 12:23), because of which, their spirits can return to the earth to re-enter their bodies if the Lord allows them to return. I discuss this subject in more detail in my series Of Such is the Kingdom.

Michael E.B. Maher

Laying on of Hands

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