Beloved, I am glad to share today the above theme taken from Jn 11.42,43,44. Indeed, in their concern, Martha and Mary addressed to the divine Friend a prayer that can serve as a model for us: “Lord, he you love is sick”. By calling him Lord, they recognize his authority. For they simply set out the case that concerns them; they also know his love and refer to it. But this affection did not decide the Lord Jesus to go immediately to Judea, any more than the criminal intentions of the Jews prevented him from going there when the time came.
For he does not let himself be like us, carried away by his feelings, nor stop by the fear of men. For only obedience to his Father directed his steps. And by this delay, the glory of God will shine much more since Lazarus has already been in the tomb for four days when the Savior arrives in Bethany. We sometimes find ourselves in the presence of people who are grieving. And then we feel the inadequacy of what human sympathy can bring. But everything changes when the eyes are on the One who is “the Resurrection and the Life”. Then we realize the full value of eternal things.
Indeed, Martha discerns that her sister is more capable than she is of entering into the Lord’s thoughts and she calls him. But Mary can only say too: “Lord if you had been here…” (Jn 11:17-27). She only knows how to look back, like many people in mourning. That is why the Lord Jesus, hugged in his heart, is led to the tomb. And we see him crying. Did He not know what He was going to do? Certainly, but in the presence of the ravages of death and its tragic power over the spirits of men, the holy Son of God is seized with pain, dread, indignation. Yes, the winner of death is there. But for the glory of God to burst before the crowd that will witness it, it is still necessary that the state of corruption of Lazarus is duly noted, and also that the Lord in advance, attributes by thanksgiving, his power to the One who sent him.
Only then did his powerful cry of command bring out of the tomb the dead man still wrapped in his strips. What a seizure for all assistants. As for us, let us remember the promise that the Lord made to Martha: “Have I not told you that, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” While waiting for this moment, the Lord Jesus will show that he possesses in himself the life and all the power necessary to deliver man from the terrible and eternal consequences of sin. But this precious Savior does not operate in power without experiencing in his heart all the pain caused by death, with more reality than those it had reached. To his question: “Where did you put it?” when the Jews answered him: “Come and see”, he wept. “Come and see”, what has become of your creature.
This was the meaning of these words for Jesus. See where the man is, the masterpiece of your creation; see where sin has plunged him; this man, perfectly out of your hands, is in putrefaction. We understand somewhat all that overwhelmed the spirit of the Lord and what oppressed his heart in front of this stage, he able to appreciate divinely with a human heart, things as they are in their reality before God. “Jesus wept. On which the Jews said: See how he loved him. And some of them said, “He who opened the blind man’s eyes, could he not also make this man die?” So it’s the same thought about the Savior; for they see in him only the power to delay the day of death, and not the victorious power of life over death, to draw man out of it.
Yet this power was there, in the person of Jesus, the Son of God, who came to this world, knowing what was the terrible condition in which his creature found himself. For came to sympathize, to weep and finally deliver, he wept not only because one of those he loved had expired, but because all men were under the empire of death.
But one remarkable fact makes the Lord so precious to the hearts of those who go through mourning, namely the Lord’s attitude comes at the tomb of Lazarus. An attitude that is not that of a winner, when he was; but that of the man of sorrow, who enters from the heart into the distressing circumstances of those whom he comes to rescue. He does not tell the grieving sisters not to cry since he will resurrect their brother. On the contrary, he weeps with them, and while the cause of his tears infinitely exceeded that of Martha and Mary, he experienced all that was painful for them, in the rupture of the natural bonds that he himself had formed for the happiness of his creature.
For the Lord wanted to make known His perfect sympathy so that today, we who cross the scene of this world where death constantly comes knocking on our door and delighting someone of our beloved, we know all that he is for our consolation while waiting for the glorious moment of his return. We thus know a Man in heaven, Jesus Christ, who wept on this earth in the presence of death, and who showed perfect sympathy, as human as it was divine.
Therefore, “Jesus therefore, still quivering in himself, comes to the sepulchre (but it was a cave, and there was a stone on it). Jesus says, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead, said to him: Lord, he already feels, for he has been there for four days. Jesus said to him, “Have I not told you that, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (v. 38-40). Lazarus’ state of corruption only serves to bring out jesus’ life power.
Besides, it was no more difficult for the Lord to resurrect a decomposing body than a body that was not. Those who doubt that God can raise from the dust the bodies that have returned to it from the beginning, do not think that it is as easy for God to gather the dust of those who have died for thousands of years as to resurrect a man who has just exhaled. In response to Martha’s remark, “he already feels,” Jesus reminds her that whoever believes will see the glory of God in resurrection. While waiting for his power to unfold towards all believers, the glory of God was to be manifested by the resurrection of Lazarus. “And Jesus looked up and said, Father, I give you thanks for what you have heard me. But I knew that you always hear me; but I said it because of the crowd that is around me, so that they would believe that you, you have sent me. And having said these things, he shouted aloud: Lazarus, go out! And the dead man came out, having his feet and hands bound with bands; and his face was wrapped in a shroud. Jesus said untied to them, and let him go” (v. 41-44). It was not necessary to untie him before resurrecting him; the invigorating power of Jesus brought him out as he was. But once alive, in order for him to walk, he had to be untie.
We see here, as always in this gospel, that even if Jesus acts in his divine power, it is always under the dependence of his Father. He knew that he was granted, but he wanted to make the crowd witness his dependence and his relationship with his Father in the deployment of this power, so that they would believe that Jesus was truly the Father’s envoy. We can still notice that Jesus being here on earth, he resurrects Lazarus so that he can continue to live on the earth, as Jesus was before his death. Lazarus had to die again, while the day Jesus resurrects the sleeping Saints, he will place them in the state in which he himself entered through his resurrection and over which death has no power. It is said in 1 John 3:2: “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Lazarus was like Jesus in his body, as he was then, and we will be like him, as he is now resurrected and glorified, when we are resurrected and transmuted.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
- Envoy of God:
Mt 21:37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying: They will have respect for my son. Jn 6:38 for I came down from heaven to do, not my will, but the will of the one who sent me. Jn 7:29 I know him; for I come from him, and it was he who sent me. Jn 8:42 Jesus said to them: If God were your Father, you would love me, for it is from God that I came out and that I come; I did not come of myself, but it was he who sent me. Jn 9.4 I must do, while it is day, the works of the one who sent me; the night comes, when no one can work. Jn 10:36 the one whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you say to him: You blasphemy! And this because I said: I am the Son of God. Jn 17:8: 21 For I have given them the words which you have given me; and they have received them, and they have truly known that I have come out of you, and they have believed that you have sent me. 21 that all may be one, like you, Father, you are in me, and as I am in you, that they too may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me.
- Jesus exclaims:
Mt 27:46: 50 And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 50 Jesus again uttered a great cry, and returned the spirit. Jn 7:28, 37 And Jesus, a teacher in the temple, cried out: You know me, and you know where I am from! I did not come by myself: but the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. 37 On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus, standing up, cried out: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink. Jn 12:44 Now, Jesus had cried out: He who believes in me believes, not in me, but in him who sent me;
- Resurrection, examples:
-the son of Serepta’s widow: 1 R 17:22 The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child returned within him, and he was brought back to life.
-the son of the Sunamite: 2 R 4:35 Elisha walked away, went here and there through the house, then went up and lay out on the child. And the child sneezed seven times, and he opened his eyes.
-a dead man brought back to life in contact with the bones of Elisha: 2 R 13:21 And as a man was buried, behold, one of these troops was seen, and the man was thrown into the sepulchre of Elisha. The man went to touch Elisha’s bones, and he returned to life and rose on his feet.
-the daughter of Jairus: Mt 9:25 When the crowd had been sent back, he entered, took the girl’s hand, and the girl rose. Mk 5:42 At once the girl got up, and began to walk; for she was twelve years old. And they were in great amazement.
-of the saints on the day of the crucifixion: Mt 27:52 the sepulchres opened, and several bodies of the saints who had died were resurrected.
-the son of Nain’s widow: Lk 7:15 And the dead sat down, and began to speak. Jesus returned it to his mother.
-Lazarus of Bethany: Jn 11:44 And the dead came out, his feet and hands bound with bands, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them: Untied him, and let him go.
-Dorcas: Acts 9:40 Peter brought everyone out, knewed down, and prayed; then, turning to the body, he said: Tabitha, get up! She opened her eyes, and having seen Peter, she sat down.
- Obedience to Christ, examples:
Mt 4:20 Immediately they left the nets, and followed him. Mt 7:24 Therefore, whoever hears these words that I say and puts them into practice, will be like a prudent man who built his house on the rock. Mt 9:9 From there having gone further, Jesus saw a man sitting in the place of tolls, and who was called Matthew. He said to her: Follow me. This man got up, and followed him. Mt 21:6 The disciples went, and did what Jesus had commanded them. Mt 26:19 The disciples did what Jesus had commanded them to do, and they prepared for the Passover. Lk 5:5 Simon answered him: Master, we have worked all night without taking anything; but on your word I will cast the net. Lk 6:47 I will show you to whom is like every man who comes to me, hears my words, and puts them into practice. Jn 2:7 Jesus said to them: Fill these vases with water. And they filled them to the edge. Jn 11:29 As soon as Mary had heard, she rose promptly, and went to him. Jn 14:21 He who has my commandments and who keeps them is the one who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, I will love him, and I will make myself known to him. Jn 21.6 He said to them: Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find. So, they threw it away, and they could no longer remove it, because of the large amount of fish.
From all of the above, we therefore note Jesus, Son of God, is the resurrection and life, with the power to give life to the dead. We have already seen that this gospel presents us with the sad state of the natural man in three figures: his inability to use the law (in the infirm of Bethesda); his state of spiritual blindness (by the blind-born); his state of moral death in Lazarus. Jesus, the Son of God, the father’s envoy, is the answer of grace to the total misery into which man has fallen by his own fault. What an object of eternal worship and praise such a glorious person, and what an eternal subject of gratitude that his coming here on earth is! Our prayers support you all in your efforts to believe in seeing the glory of God.
PRAYING FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS A PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in truth, to say with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lust of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge having sinned against you and ask you forgiveness for all my sins, for today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and Personal Savior. I recognize that you died at the cross of Calvary and that you rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may light out in my life right now.
Thank you Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also enjoy the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point where to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all worship, power and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you next week about “Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. “
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty Lord.