2024_07_29 Insight Post- Kim Feld
This week’s reading- John 11:1-56, John 12:1-19
As I read Lazarus’ story, I was struck by the first few verses of John 11 and have spent time mulling them over. Let’s take a look:
1A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days.
Lazarus had the distinction of being Jesus’ “dear friend.” The home Lazarus shared with his sisters Mary and Martha was a refuge for Jesus, a place He enjoyed being. Naturally, when Lazarus became ill, his sisters sent word to Jesus. I imagine their expectation was that He would come immediately! They believed Jesus was the Messiah and fully believed He could heal their brother. Yet, verses 5-6 tell us that although Jesus loved them, He stayed put for two days. From Jesus’ words in verse 4, He knew He would raise Lazarus from the dead and what the significance would be. But this would come at a cost to Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.
When Jesus arrived at Lazarus’ tomb, He wept. I believe He knew He would raise Lazarus – He had already alluded to Lazarus’ sickness not ending in death – yet He wept. It would be natural for questions to enter the reader’s mind: Why did Jesus wait for two days? Why was He emotional about Lazarus’ death when He knew He would bring Lazarus back to life? If Jesus loved these dear friends, why allow them to suffer?
Some have said that although His followers couldn’t realize it at the time, Lazarus’ death and resurrection were like a dress rehearsal for the main event that was rapidly approaching: Jesus’ death and resurrection. Could it be that this was part of the preparation for what was to come? Witnessing Jesus raise a man who had been dead for days, whose body had already begun to decompose, showed that death held no power over Jesus. Before long, that point was radically underscored by Jesus dying and returning to life.
In C. S. Lewis’s classic book, Mere Christianity, he says, “Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead” (Lewis, 2024, p. 209). Jesus’ invitation to us is to come and lay down our lives. We are to pick up our cross daily and follow Him because only those things within us that have died can be raised to new life.
We don’t always understand why God does or allows the things He does, but because He loves us, His actions always hold purpose and meaning. He does not take our suffering lightly. He weeps with us and holds us close.
Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach
Reference: Lewis, C. S. (2024). Mere Christianity [Kindle]. Pomodoro Books. (Original work published 1952).