All The Praise5/9/2020 In this last installment on John 11 I want to focus on how Jesus set up the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead.
If you haven’t read my last three post on John 11, you need to do so before you enter into this one. Installment 1: Jesus’ Delay Isn’t His Denial Installment 2: Even Now Installment 3: Tears Jesus has been deeply moved by the passing of His dear friend Lazarus. He is taken to where Lazarus is buried and says, “Take away the stone.”[1] This shocked everyone there. At this point, Lazarus was dead four days, and probably like everyone in that situation, Martha pointed out the obvious. “Lord, by this time there will be an odor.”[2] Jesus reminds Martha and all those standing around, His plan was and is to use Lazarus’s death to bring glory and honor to God. As soon as Jesus spoke this, they removed the stone of the cave Lazarus was buried in. What happens next is what I want to focus on. “Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When He had said these things He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’”[3] Jesus, standing face to face with the burial site of His friend, does something we need to take note of. Before Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, He lifted up His head towards His Father to bring glory to Him. Jesus knew His mission. Jesus knew how to be dependent on His Father. How often do we stand in front of a terrible circumstance and try to overcome it on our own? How many times are we going to try fix a problem on our own? Jesus knew His mission, to bring glory to His Father. Jesus knew how to be dependent on His Father, He called out to Him before He called out to Lazarus. We must live in our mission, to glorify God. We must realize we can’t do it on our own, we need to depend on God. Photo By: @cliffphotographs [1] John 11:39a ESV [2] John 11:39b ESV [3] John 11:41-43 ESV
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
@jlcabit