May 14 - The Death of Lazarus

May 14 – The Death of Lazarus

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:1-16)

If you heard that one of your closest friends was ill – to the point of death, you would do everything possible to get there before they died. Right?  Absolutely.

Now, wouldn’t it be amazing to know that when you’re with Jesus, the fear of death no longer has a stranglehold on you?  When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, He was completely confident that his sickness wouldn’t lead to death … or would it?

He stayed for two more days after getting the message, even though we are assured several times that Jesus loved this family.  He obviously loved them a lot. 

His disciples probably thought He was afraid of going back into Judea because the Jews might stone Him for blasphemy.  When it came time to set out on the journey, they were a little startled! 

All of these things happened because Jesus had a plan.  That plan grew out of His incredible love for these twelve that followed Him.  After all they had been through, He wanted them to experience something spectacular.  He wanted to show them that God’s love transcends even death. 

It occurs to me that there wouldn’t be too many families around Him who would put up with what will happen in tomorrow’s lesson.  Martha and Mary aren’t going to be terribly happy with Him, but because of their love for each other … they’ll understand.

Jesus wants to show you … and me spectacular things.  Sometimes these things rise out of the ashes.  The disciples, Mary and Martha were desperate for Jesus to heal Lazarus.  But, He had something bigger planned.  It was going to take a lot of trust on their part and they were going to have to experience grief and even death. 

Could you let something awful happen so that Jesus could bring you a spectacular experience?