Letting Go of Lazarus
Jesus was out traveling when he received news form Lazarus’
sisters, “Jesus, your bro is sick! We know you love him.” In other words, “Jesus,
will you come!?”
Jesus received their message and told His buddies, “Don’t
worry, this is happening so that you can see an even greater picture of who I
am!”
Does Jesus go rushing to the scene? Surprisingly, no! He
waited two
days before saying they would head that direction. Then Jesus tells His
disciples, “Lazarus has died, and for
your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe…”
By the time Jesus arrived in town He found out that Lazarus
had been dead and buried for 4 days. As soon as Martha heard he was in town she
came running and crying out when she saw Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died!” Basically, “JESUS, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? You didn't
show up in the way that I expected … why!?”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live, and everyone who
lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Through her tears and confusion Martha lifts her head and in
a trembling voice says, “Yes, Lord; I believe that
you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world”
Jesus then called for her sister, as soon as Mary heard that
He wanted her she came and fell down in a sobbing heap before Him. Her tears
made stains on His travel weary feet as she said in a broken voice, “Lord, if
you had been here, my brother would not have died”
When Jesus saw her
weeping He was deeply moved in His spirit.
“Where is he?” Jesus asks. He asked where the
source of their sorrow lay and they replied, “Lord, come and see”. They invite Him in. What does Jesus do?
He weeps. He weeps with them.
He doesn't say, “Suck it up!” Or, “I’ll make it all better”. No, He
simply goes with them into their sorrow.
But then He really does the
unthinkable, He asks them to open up the grave! “Uhhh, Jesus?” Martha
questions, “Are you sure you want to do this? It won’t be pretty,
and I can guarantee it will be smelly! Really, I think this is better
left alone. What’s done is done”
“Did I not tell you that if you believed
you would see the glory of God?” Looking up He confidently spoke to His Father,
“Thanks for listening Father, I know you always hear Me, but I say this out
loud so that the people standing here will believe that You sent Me.”
And then He does it, He doesn't whisper, nope, He
shouts to the dead, “LAZARUS, COME OUT!”
Lazarus came out, his hands
and feet bound with linen strips, his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to
them, “Unbind him, and let him go”
What I take away from this story in John 11:
-Jesus doesn't promise that hard things won’t
happen in our lives, but He does say things will happen so that we might
believe. He tests our trust.
-He still hears us when we cry and He
has a plan behind out every prayer, even if it isn't what we expect.
-In our confusion He still allows us to
question. Then He in turn asks us a question … if we will still believe He is
who He says He is, no matter the circumstances.
-He calls for us to come as we are, we can fall in a broken mess
at His feet. What we are going through MOVES His heart.
-Then He asks us to take Him into our
deepest pain, He isn't afraid of the mess, He wants to not only be feel with us
but to literally BE THERE with us.
-And then He speaks to our pain, the dead
things in our heart. He loves us too much to leave the
rotting mess and though it is not pretty, He commands it to come
out into the light.
-Literally saying,
“Unbind the dead things
and let them go”
