3-12/14- Come Out Lazarus!

38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.39“Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” (John 11:38-44)

Thoughts: Jesus wept again.  He commanded that the seal of death be removed.  He proclaimed God's glory and prayed out loud.  Then He commanded the dead to move.  When Jesus prays, the tombs pop open, and the dead move.  Lazarus responded and came out.  He didn't come out singing, preaching, but in silence.  Later Lazarus would preach, then die and be buried in another tomb in Cyprus that we can see today.  But Lazarus was a quiet, living monument to Jesus' power- the power over death.  The power that confirmed his claim to be God.  it was after this great miracle that Jesus rode into Jerusalem with the crowds singing "Hosanna to the King of David!"  This resurrection was confirmed about a week and a half later when Jesus rose from the dead himself when they tried to snuff Him and His message out.  The message of Jesus will not be snuffed out.  We do not need to be ashamed of it- it is the only message of the resurrection and the life.  The world needs us to proclaim the glory of the One who can call us out of our graves. 

Prayer: Lord, help me trust in your ability to save me.  I am as good as dead without you.  When I cannot respond- when I am dead- save me.  May my life be a living monument to your love and power. 

(The author in the tomb of Lazarus in Bethany.  Bethany is a very small town, and it would be unusual if they forgot the spot of this great event).  

3-11-14 Jesus Wept

28After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

32When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34“Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35Jesus wept.

36Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:28-37)

Thoughts: Mary loved Jesus and Jesus loved her.  But there is also no doubt that Jesus delayed so that her brother died.  Just because bad things happen to us does not mean we should question Jesus' love for us.  Jesus was, in fact, deeply troubled when he saw her weeping.  He wept.  The shortest verse, yet one of the most memorable is that Jesus wept.  It was not that He didn't know that there would be a happy ending.  He wept because of the sadness of death and the hurt of people. Mary and the people blamed Jesus for not doing more and not healing His good friend.  Jesus has good friends who do not make it.  Yet in the face of eternity they do.  The good news is that Jesus cares about and even sympathizes with us- but He also raises us.  Our hope never ends on the tomb. Jesus weeps for our suffering- and the worst of our suffering- death.  Yet, as he shows in raising Lazarus- He is not a helpless bystander, or a mourner on the sidelines.  Though He wept for Lazarus, He also raised Lazarus.  He weeps for us- but He also raises us.  

Prayer: Help me, Lord to weep with those who weep but also to mourn with hope in you.

3-9-14- Jesus' Strange Love

1Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.2(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

8“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

11After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

12His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

14So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

16Then Thomas (also known as Didymus^a ) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”  (John 11:1-16)

Thoughts: Lazarus, brother to Mary and Martha, and a good friend of Jesus, was sick.  Later, when Jesus wept at the tomb, the response of the observers was, "See how he loved him."  Jesus was willing to go back to Judea even though it would be his last trip there and would end in his death.  The disciples, especially Thomas- the doubter, thought it would lead to his death and they were right.  Jesus was not willing to hide his light for fear of the darkness, and we should not be afraid to hide ours.  The world will tell us not to pray in public, not to say "Jesus" at the end of our prayers- lest we offend someone.  The world will tell us to hide our light under a bushel so that we can live comfortably in the darkness.  Jesus was not afraid to say who He was and to go to the aid of someone though it meant His death.
      John contrasts Jesus' love with His waiting.  Verse 5 affirms Jesus loves the three siblings and the next verse says,  "So he waited until he was dead."  It is this word "So" (oun in the Greek which means "now therefore" or "accordingly so") that is so very strange.  Jesus loved Lazarus and Lazarus was sick... so he delayed!  Usually when someone is in pain or sick we want the doctor to hurry up.  But Jesus knew God's plan and that "this sickness would not end in death" (vs. 4) even though he knew Lazarus was dead (vs 11, 14).  The ultimate showdown with those who wanted Jesus and His Gospel silenced and dead was about to occur.  Jesus encouraged his disciples by raising Lazarus, and then He was raised as an encouragement to us all.  God sometimes delays answering our prayers so that His greater purposes would be achieved.  We wish he would hurry up and help the sick, save the lost, bring heaven to earth.  But God knows the full cost of hurrying.  If Jesus had hurried he could have (as both Martha and Mary pointed out later) kept Lazarus from dying, but that would not be nearly as inspiring as raising Lazarus from the dead.  God may be telling you "wait" in answer to your prayers.  Trust His timing and trust Him. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to wait on you even in pain and death.  

(Map showing Bethany.  Later Jesus would go from Bethany to the Mount of Olives and enter Jerusalem through the Golden Gate- which is the gate the Messiah was prophesied to enter.  The crowd that saw Him raise Lazarus became the crowd that put palm branches before Him on Palm Sunday proclaiming Him King.)