Question: In Luke we read about the little girl who was “asleep,” as Jesus said. Some say she was dead. But in Luke:8:55And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
See All... it says “that her spirit returned to her,” signifying that she had been dead. If she was only asleep, as Jesus said, why did her spirit “return” to her? Yet, we cannot disbelieve Jesus when He said she was “asleep.”
Response: “Sleep” in Scripture is often used of those who are “dead” (Dn 12:12; 1 Thes:4:15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
See All...).
From the perspective of man, she was dead. But to the Lord of life, she was only “asleep,” and He would awaken her.
The disciples “knew” that she was dead and laughed when Jesus said she was “sleeping” (8:52-53). They were limited to what they saw. No breath, she’s dead.
With a superior perspective, the Creator said she was “asleep” and that He would awaken her, even from the “sleep” of death. No one else could do this, for only He calls those “things which be not as though they were” (Rom:4:17(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
See All...). The Bible doesn’t tell us whether her spirit went to paradise, but from wherever it was, the Lord called it back to her body.