Lazarus                                                                                                                                              D - 4

 

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  (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.)

So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”  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.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus.  So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”  Jesus 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.  It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

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.”  His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”

Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

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

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus ) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.  “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”  After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.”

When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.  Now Jesus had not yet entered the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him.  When 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.

When 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.”

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

Jesus wept.

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

“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.”

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

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I 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.”

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

“Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

John 11:1 etc. (NIV)

 

There are three stories about Jesus raising the dead in the Gospels, each very different.  The first two involved young people whom He did not know; one incident seemed spontaneous (a widow’s only son at a town called Nain), the other planned in advance as Jesus walked with Jairus, the father, to where the deceased twelve-year-old daughter was.  In neither case do we read that at Jesus wept. 

The third story is probably the best known: raising his friend Lazarus from the dead.  Lazarus was an ordinary man, living a quiet life with his two sisters, Martha and Mary, two extremely different people, and he probably acted as breadwinner and sometimes referee between the two sisters.  Jesus stayed with them from time to time and knew the small details of his friend’s life.  The love between Lazarus and his sisters was evident.  When Jesus found out that Lazarus had died, He waited two days to come.  When asked why the delay, He told His followers that God’s glory would be evident when He finally went to see the family.  He knew in advance what He was going to do.

When Jesus arrived, the Gospel tells us, “He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.”  When seeing the tomb, we find the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept”. 

But wait, if Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus, why the tears?  Why was He so moved?  Why was He troubled in spirit?

Some Bible experts explain the tears through very fine, theological points, most of which, frankly, are semi-undecipherable.  Here’s a simpler theory: Jesus knew well that Lazarus was a “good” man.  He knew how Lazarus tried to be a man after God’s own heart within his home and with his sisters.  Jesus knew this friend’s heart, and to see him “gone” was just too much.

Rest assured today that Jesus Christ sees your heart as well.  And even though you may think your world is rather small and unimportant, it isn’t to Jesus.  He’s especially fond of you, and His plan is a full life for you.  

 

1) Reading this, how well do you think Jesus knew Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary?  Did He have a clear idea about how each one was wired? 

2) Why did Jesus describe Lazarus as just sleeping, and not dead?

3) Why might Jesus have waited a while before heading back to where some of His outspoken enemies lived? 

4) When Jesus actually arrived graveside, it had been four days sine Lazarus died.  Can you imagine the disappointment on the faces of Martha and Mary?

5) Martha, the sister who was more business-like, went out first to meet Jesus.  Jesus and Martha discussed things in a more theological way.  But she knew Jesus and Jesus knew her personality and spoke to her the way she would understand.  Might He talk to you today in the same manner, using words of particular meaning to you?

6) Then Mary came to see Jesus.  Mary was more of an emotional basket-case, but she was the one inviting Jesus to see the actual grave.  Both of them saw the real Jesus, the Jesus who wept at losing Lazarus.  If Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, why did He cry beforehand? 

7) When Jesus gave instructions to roll away the stone blocking entrance to the grave, the very practical Martha reminded Jesus Lazarus was beyond repair, and the smell was repulsive.  She believed in Jesus, but still viewed possibilities in a very narrow way.  In this story, where do you think you might fit in?

8) Where are you on your spiritual journey?  Do you feel you know Jesus as much as Lazarus, Martha and Mary did?  Conversely, do you feel Jesus knows you, as much as He knew Lazarus, Martha and Mary? 

9) Last, might Jesus ever cry as He thought of you?  If so, do you think these were tears of rejection and disappointment in you?  Or would they be tears wishing so much for you to get to know Him?  Tears wanting to bless you with an abundant life?