Not The Final Word – John 11:37-50
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 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 four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 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.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 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.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him
What does the Passage say?
V. 37. For us to understand the weight of this word, we need to know what happened before. Jesus heard about Lazarus sickness. Instead of coming back immediately, he stayed at the place he heard the news, for two more days. When he arrived at Bethany, Martha, Lazarus’ sister, greets him and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 21 NRSV). I admire the belief of Martha. She believes that if Jesus is with her, nothing would have happened. However, Jesus is about to show her that her faith has to grow more. Because others, who were sceptical about Jesus were saying, “Well, if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opens the eyes of a blind man” (v. 37 The Message).
V. 38-45 Jesus commands the people to move the stone of the tomb. People, reluctantly open the tomb. Jesus prays to God, and all people witness Lazarus, who was buried four days ago walk out of the tomb. Can you imagine how awestruck they might have been?
What does the Passage say to me/us?
There is nothing better than God’s time. People all think in the way of the world’s time, not God’s. In the world’s time, Jesus should have responded to Martha and Mary’s request to come and heal Lazarus. In the world’s time, Jesus should not have opened the tomb, since the body was dead for the past four days.
However, God’s time can overturn anything that happened during the world’s time. Jesus always thinks and moves in God’s time. That is the reason why Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him” (v. 11 NRSV).
When we walk in God’s time, we will see how God does God’s will in this world. It is us, who keep on putting our eyes and thoughts onto the world’s time, and lose sight of God’s time.
Prayer
Lord, in your time all truth will be revealed. Help us to focus our hearts on your time.
In Christ Name we pray, AMEN.
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