This morning I am reflecting on a couple of interesting verses from John's Gospel and his recounting of the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Here are the verses - John 11:14-15 TPT:
[14] "Then Jesus made it plain to them, "Lazarus is dead. [15] And for your sake, I'm glad I wasn't there, because now you have another opportunity to see who I am so that you will learn to trust in me. Come, let's go and see him."
(Please note, I have quoted from The Passion Translation, as it does a good job of reflecting the original language in a very readable format.)
Jesus' statement to His disciples is very interesting to me. They had been aware of the request from Martha and Mary for Jesus to hurry, as Lazarus was very sick, and yet Jesus stayed where he was a for a few more days. He was using language that was not perfectly clear and the disciples, as was often the case, weren't understanding what He was saying. I would be tempted to lose my patience, but Jesus just explains again this time, perfectly clear so that don't misunderstand Him and tells them "Lazarus is dead." He continues, "And for your sake, I'm glad I wasn't there." That statement is a bit mind-blowing!
Stepping back a bit, we sometimes have a hard time putting ourselves in the place of the disciples as we know the rest of the story. Here is Jesus speaking about the death of one of his close friends, someone these disciples knew, and He seems to be putting the needs of the disciples before the needs of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. That is actually hard for me to get my mind around! We know that Jesus is the most loving man who ever lived, because He perfectly represented the Father (Heb 1:2) and God is love (1 John 4:16b), yet here He is seemingly ignoring the pleas for help from close friends, and then saying it is for the sake of the disciples that He is doing this! We could call this a teachable moment, but that seems just a shadow of what is really happening here!
This is apparently a super critical point that God needs the disciples to understand completely! The Father, who Jesus is obeying perfectly in this situation, is orchestrating something much more significant here! He is setting the stage for the coming Passion of Jesus, and He knows the disciples must understand that HE has power and authority over death! There can be no doubt, an no questions!
My heart wonders how often the Father leads me into situations specifically to teach me critical lessons about Him?
Jesus continues on and says the reason "for your sake", is that "Now you have a another opportunity to see who I am am so that you will learn to trust in me!" I think that sentence pretty much summarizes all our lives! The Lord is constantly desiring for us to see and understand more of who He is, that we might trust in Him! We are being encouraged to "Come higher up, come further in" (to quote C.S. Lewis from the Chronicles of Narnia, the Last Battle), and deeper and deeper into His love. We cannot stay in this same place relationally, for God's Kingdom, of which we are a part, is constantly expanding (Is 9:7). There is so much more to learn about the Lord, and learning through relational experience is key! He doesn't just want us to know the Truth, He wants us to experience the Truth!
When Jesus sent out the 12 on their first 'missions' trip, this is what He told them - Matthew 10:7-8 NASB:
[7] "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give."
He called the twelve to proclaim the Kingdom and then demonstrate the reality of the Kingdom. This practical experience of God's loving intervention was meant to convince people of God's love, acceptance and involvement in their lives. They were no longer supposed to just believe words, but now they had experience to back their understanding!
So, going back to the original verses of reflection, Jesus, is telling the disciples that this experience will cement their understanding of who He really is, namely the Son of God. He is setting the stage for His next great pronouncement about who He is! The story continues with them arriving in Bethany and interacting with the sisters and Jesus says to Martha the following - John 11:25-26 NASB: ..."I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, [26] and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" He then proceeded to command Lazarus, dead for 4 days, to come out of the grave, and he did!
I am encouraged this morning that the Lord wants me to fully understand who He is, not just in knowledge, but in experience as well! He wants me listen and learn, to look and see and understand! He wants to set my heart on fire with the reality of who He is, and who He says I am!
Oh Lord, help me to hear, listen and embrace Your truth! Let my life be changed by You! Help me to not miss what You are saying!
No comments:
Post a Comment