Quote for the Day
“…so that you may believe.”
Today's Prayer
Father, today grant us the eyes and heart to see our relationship with you and the intimacy you desire to have with us.
John 11:1-16
John 11:1-16 (NIV)Now 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. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”4 When 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.” 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.7 Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?”9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. 10 It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.”11 After 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.”12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”16 Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Message
Chapter 11 is the amazing account of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. Once again in this chapter we will see people given the choice of what they will believe about Jesus. Throughout the book of John we have seen that Jesus is in perfect alignment with the Father. He does absolutely nothing without the power of the Father or outside of the Father’s will. His message to us both in this Gospel and throughout his life is that we too have this ability and that is why he has come, to give us that same relationship with the Father.As the passage begins we see Jesus once again aligned with the Father’s will. When he is notified of the illness of Lazarus he has two considerations as he determines what to do. The first surrounds his close relationship with Lazarus. As we will see later in the chapter he was so taken by the death of Lazarus and the impact on Martha and Mary that he wept. The second consideration is the impact of going back to the area where he was recently the subject of an attempted stoning. While either of these could cause Jesus to make a decision to either NOT go at all, or to go immediately and use his powers to heal Lazarus, neither of these is the decision Jesus makes. He knows the will of the Father is to show a group of people that in fact it is the Father who has sent Jesus, and the Father has planned an event that will give them MORE than ample evidence that he and the Father are one. The simple statement of Jesus to the disciples, “…so that you may believe,” displays his compassion for his disciples. It is also a reminder for us that the claims of Jesus were not his own, but were evidence of his relationship with the Father. Our Father desires the same relationship with us, through his Son, Jesus Christ.