This story speaks of life and death, faith and doubt, human weakness and divine power. It challenges me, provokes me, and invites me to see the world and my place in it through the eyes of God’s eternal perspective.
This story also encourages me by showing me, the magnitude of Jesus’ love, and His power over death, and assures me of His promise of eternal life.
I am the Bread of Life: John 6 I am the Light of the World: John 8 I am the Gate: John 10 I am the Good Shepherd: John 10
John 11:1-16 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 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” 9 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. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have 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 (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Jesus knew that if He waited Lazarus would die, yet He chose to wait. This may seem like a lack of concern but is a demonstration of divine timing. This delay was a deliberate decision that would serve a greater purpose.
This delay was a part of God’s divine plan to reveal His glory and power in a way that would strengthen the faith of His followers.
In our lives, we often find ourselves in situations where we pray for something and it seems as if God is not responding. Yet, just as in this story of Lazarus, God’s apparent silence does not mean He is not working. His timing is always perfect, even when it doesn’t match our expectations.
John 11:17-27 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
John 11:25-26 “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?”
Jesus doesn’t claim to have resurrection and life or understand the secrets of resurrection and life. Jesus says that He is the resurrection and the life. To know Jesus is to know resurrection and life; to have Jesus is to have resurrection and life. Apart from Him, there is no resurrection unto eternal life.
Jesus is not saying that the believer will not die physically. Lazarus was physically dead, and millions of Jesus’ followers have died since.
What Jesus is saying is that Death cannot kill a believer, it only ushers him out of this old life into our new eternal life.
(Spurgeon) “Death comes to the ungodly man as a penal infliction, but to the righteous man, it is a summons to his Father’s house: to the sinner, it is an execution, to the saint an undressing. Death to the ungodly and wicked is the King of terrors: death to the righteous saint is the end of terrors and the beginning of glory.”
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. These are not idle words, these are words of life and hope. These are words that have the power to change our perspective, to infuse our lives with purpose, and to fill our hearts with peace and joy.
John 10:28-37 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.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 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. 32 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.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
John 11:38-44 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “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.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
When Jesus finally arrives at Bethany, He not only mourns Lazarus’ death but boldly declares and demonstrates His divine authority over life and death. The command He gives to Lazarus, “Come out,” is not a plea, but a command.
This moment serves as a powerful reminder for us that Jesus has the ultimate authority over every situation in our lives. No matter how hopeless or impossible our circumstances may seem.
We also see a Jesus who doesn’t condemn Mary and Martha for their lack of faith, a Jesus who doesn’t rebuke them for their doubts and their fears. Instead, we see a Jesus who reassures them, who comforts them, and shows them grace and mercy.
In the story of Lazarus, we see a Savior who commands the dead to rise, defies the laws of nature, and wields the power of life and death. We serve a Savior who speaks, and it is done.
This story reminds us that even amid our darkest hours, God is working for His glory and our good. (all things work together for good)
Let’s hold onto the hope that we have in Jesus. Remembering, He’s the One who can bring life out of death, hope out of despair. He’s the One who can take the broken pieces of our lives and make them whole again.
Jesus could have healed Lazarus immediately. He could have spoken the word, and Lazarus would have been restored to health. But He didn’t. He waited. He allowed Lazarus to die. He allowed Mary and Martha to grieve. Why?
Because He knew that the result would be far greater than an immediate healing. And that through Lazarus’ death and resurrection, His disciples would witness a miracle that would strengthen their faith and deepen their understanding of who He is.
(Do you believe this?)
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