John 11:1-10

John 11:1-10

And a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, out of the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  And Mary was the one who anointed the Lord by perfumed oil and she wiped dry His feet by her hair.  Her brother was Lazarus; he was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him while saying, “Lord, behold!  The one whom you love, he is sick.”  And after Jesus heard, he said, “This disease is not for death but for the glory of God in order that the Son of God should be glorified through it.”  And Jesus was loving Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  Therefore, when He heard that he was sick, then He remained in the place in which He was for two days.  Then after this He says to His disciples, “We should again go into Judea.”  The disciples say to Him, “Rabbi, just now the Jews were desiring to stone you.  And again you go there?”  Jesus answered, “Are not twelve hours in a day?  If anyone walks around in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of the world.  But if he should walk around in the night, then he stumbles because the light is not in him.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I’ve always marveled at this passage with respect to Jesus’ actions.  A servant is dispatched to tell Jesus that Lazarus is sick – although by looking at the timeline later in the chapter we can know that Lazarus dies shortly after the messenger is dispatched.  So by the time Jesus gets the message, Lazarus is likely already dead.  Therefore, Jesus hangs out for a few more days before going to Lazarus.  Is Jesus merely looking to make sure that Lazarus is good and dead before raising Him to life so that the miracle is even more profound?  No.  I do not believe Jesus plays such games of self-centered magnification.  Rather, I believe Jesus is making the same point in this last great sign that He made in His first sign during the wedding at Cana.  Jesus is not some miracle-worker who serves at the beck and call of human beings.  Jesus does the work of the Father on the timeline of the Father.  All things work out to His glory, but not necessarily on our timeline.  God’s timing is always better than our timing.  We need to wait for God’s grace to go before us and to learn to desire God’s timing.

Why do we struggle with God’s timing over our own?  Why do you think Jesus makes such a point to make sure that He works on His own agenda?  When in your own life has God’s timing been better than your own timing?

Second Thought:

At the end of this passage, Jesus speaks about contrasting day and night.  Jesus is making two significant points here.  First, by referencing the twelve hours Jesus is saying that a day has a beginning and an ending.  In other words, there is a start and a stop to when the work of the Lord is done.  We all have a beginning and end.  Jesus is saying that the work of the Lord needs to be done regardless of the potential obstacle that is in His way.  Jesus’ second point is more subtle.  By contrasting day and night Jesus is speaking about life with Him and life without Him.  God’s work can only be done with Jesus.  Without the light of Christ, we walk in the darkness and cannot do the work of God.

Are you walking in the light of Christ?  Are you working while it is day?

Third Thought:

What does Jesus mean when He says this will end in glory?  This is a very deep teaching.  In Christianity, we take a unique perspective: death and suffering is not a bad thing.  Jesus knows that His death will result in His glory as He does the work of God in providing atonement for humanity.  Jesus knows that Lazarus’ resurrection from the dead will be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back.  When Lazarus is raised from the dead, there will be no doubt that He possesses power from God.  When Lazarus is raised from the dead there will be no avoiding a direct confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of the Jews.  Jesus knows ultimately that Lazarus dies so that the cross is inevitable and the world will have access to salvation.  That is His ultimate glory.

When you think of glory, would you ever think of a cross and death?  In what way does God’s perspective of what it means to find glory conflict with what the world means by glory?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 11:11-16