After having claimed to resurrect a dead man, a pastor in South Africa has come under intense speculation.
Pastor Alph Lukau was in front of a crowd of people outside his church near Johannesburg when the stunt first took place.
In the viral footage – you can see a man lying down in a coffin as Pastor Lukau shouts, “Rise up.”
The man’s body then immediately jerks up and worshipers cheer in the crowd.
The funeral companies involved in the incident say they had been manipulated into being implicated, allegedly.
Three companies are currently taking legal action for damage to their reputation, according to the BBC.
In a statement on Facebook, Kings and Queens Real Funerals stated the following:
“As kings and Queens Funeral Services, we would like to distance ourselves from the supposed resurrection of a deceased man by Hallelujah Ministries who allegedly was at our mortuary. As a funeral services provider, we offer Funeral Services, Funeral Cover, Burials, Transport.”
“We were approached by alleged family members of the deceased who informed us they had encountered a dispute with a different funeral service provider and would like to use our transport services which we offered them. “
“We did not supply the coffin neither did we store the deceased at our mortuary and no paper work was processed by Kings and Queens Funerals.”
“As a Funeral Services Provider we do not offer services without documentation neither do we repatriate bodies without any paper work.”
“We are in the process of taking legal action for this malicious damage to our image.”
“To all our beloved clients and prospective clients, thank you for the continued support during this confusing time. We continue to strive for excellence as your preferred funeral services provider that offers a service that give you honour, dignity and comfort.”
Reportedly, funeral services Kingdom Blue and Black Phoenix have also been involved, informing local media how church representatives had tricked him in multiple ways.
Prof David Mosoma, the Deputy Chairperson of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, stated that such acts are a way to get money from “the hopelessness of our people.”
He said:
“Resurrection means suspension of the laws of nature. When somebody claims to have suspended the laws of nature when someone has passed on, it means there must be credible witnesses, a certification that the person is dead, the person must be in a registered morgue. The morgue must certify that this person is dead.”
“All of these things are the questions we are asking ourselves – how did this happen? We have discovered that there are no such things as miracles. They are made up to try to get money from the hopelessness of our people. We cannot allow our people to be abused in this way.”
While the stunt has been denounced by multiple religious groups, there are some people who have seen the humor in the incident — going as far to share their very own versions of a “Resurrection Challenge” on social media.
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