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Saturday, April 4th
John 11:28-44
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.' And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, 'See how he loved him!' But some of them said, 'Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?'
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, 'Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.' Jesus said to her, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?' So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, 'Creator, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.' When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.'
This time we hear Mary verbalize the same thing that Martha her sister expressed earlier in this passage. Lord if you had only been here our brother would not have died. When Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews with her he also begins to weep. How often do we see Jesus actually weeping? We have seen in the Gospels the statement that he was moved with compassion and he healed their sick but we don't see such great emotion where Jesus weeps. And obviously by his reaction he loved this family very much. They were a part of his followers and ministry. Jesus doesn't stay in his grief for very long, but moves quickly to action. He says, "Take away the stone." Martha says, Lord, by now he stinking because his body has started to decay. He doesn't pay any attention to her words this time. He prays to the Creator, I thank you that you heard me and I know you always hear me but for the sake of the crowd standing here that they may believe you sent me. Then he says, Lazarus, come out, and out comes Lazarus, bound in strips of cloth looking like a hopping mummy. Then he says, unbind him and let him go.
Wow. This would be the topic of conversation around Jerusalem for a while. No one could deny Lazarus was dead or that Jesus used some type of trickery to pull this miracle off. There is no mention again of him using a demon to perform miracles any longer. All who were witnesses of Lazarus death and his resurrection had proof first that Lazarus was dead and now alive, of who Jesus was and who sent him that day.
Do we know why Jesus waited four days? There are two answers to that question. The first reason is the Jews of that day believed the soul hung around for three days after death before finally departing. If he had come any sooner they would have dismissed it the miracle or if he had just healed him before he died, they probably would have thought it was any ole ordinary miracle. Jesus wanted to be sure that there would be no denying the miracle performed that day. But most importantly He wanted to bring glory to God. As followers of Christ we to in everything we do and say should only bring glory to God. gmc
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