Day 29: Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead

Read: John 11:1-53 (key verses: 11:1, 3-7; 14; 21-27: 38-44) Reflect: Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary, had become good friends with Jesus during the course of his ministry. So when Lazarus became very ill, his sisters sent word to Jesus. Jesus had demonstrated his ability to heal even people whose ailments were incurable by any human means, such as when he healed the paralytic in Day 25’s devotion. So it was reasonable to expect that upon learning of his good friend’s illness, Jesus would rush to his side to heal him. Instead, Jesus chose to stay where he was. This decision might have been explained by the fact that venturing to visit Lazarus could result in his own death. Lazarus lived outside of Jerusalem, and the last time Jesus had been there he had so enraged some of the Jewish religious leaders that they sought to stone him to death. But Jesus had every intention of going to Lazarus. He told his disciples that Lazarus’ illness would not end in death, but would instead witness to God’s glory. By this, Jesus did not mean Lazarus would not die. He went to Bethany, but only after Lazarus had been dead and buried four days. There he prayed to God, calling Him father, and thanked Him for the opportunity to reveal His glory. Then he called out to Lazarus—and a man who had undoubtedly been dead walked out, once again alive and well. As our knowledge and skill grows, mankind has become able to heal more and more illnesses. But once someone dies, we are powerless to reverse that. Jesus showed he had power over even death. Belief in bodily resurrection was not a new concept to the Israelites. Many of them anticipated that faithful Jews would be raised from the dead when the Messiah came and established his reign forever. Those who trusted in him would know true salvation, and would never be oppressed again. No longer would anyone fear death, the ultimate penalty for sin, because sins would be forgiven and death would be defeated. In verse 24, we see that Martha shared this belief in the coming resurrection. But Jesus tells her that the resurrection is closer than she realizes—because he is the resurrection and the life. The hope that the Messiah would deliver the people from sin and oppression and give them everlasting life was fulfilled in him. Lazarus’ resurrection was a foretaste of an even greater resurrection to come, when God would fulfill His promises completely to free His people from sin and give them eternal life. Taking it Further: Several times in the passage we see people expressing the regret that Jesus had not come sooner and healed Lazarus, so he would not have to die. They could imagine Lazarus being healed by Jesus, but that would not have been enough for God. When we are in difficult situations or bothered by something, we often ask God to solve them in ways we can imagine—heal, give us a certain job, change people or circumstances in a certain way, etc. We need to be careful that we are not limiting God to what we can imagine—settling for a simple healing when He wants to give us so much more. What helps you trust God to do the right thing in any situation you face, and then to wait patiently for Him to work things out in His timing?