Why Did Jesus Delay?
Good Morning Friends,
On our Lenten journey, the raising of Lazarus comes as a climax of signs describing the supreme gift of Jesus and how he is glorified though the illness of another. It is relevant and instructive as we continue to face the Coronavirus Pandemic. In previous passages Jesus has been described as the fountain of living water and as the good shepherd and as the light of the world and in today’s text exhibited as the resurrection and the life. Here Jesus is committing to lay down his life for others and they do not get it. The text, in some translations, has the often-quoted shortest verse in the Bible and the story honestly should bring us to tears as well. The reality was that in coming to save Lazarus, his friend, Jesus was as a man on death row on the slow march to the cross. He was as a dead man walking into the drama and passion of the crucifixion and although he had been talking about his death, some of his closest friends still wondered, Why Did Jesus Delay?
Scripture: Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
John 11:1-45 (NRSV)
Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
John 12:23-26 (NRSV)
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Luke 19:41-44 (NRSV)
Message: When Jesus made His last entry into Jerusalem prior to His crucifixion He was met, we are told, by an excited crowd waving palm branches and shouting; “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.” John makes the sober comment that the people had gathered because they had heard of the raising of Lazarus. They were hearing the testimonies of those who had seen this miracle firsthand. But for someone to be raised someone must first die. The Pharisees made the cryptic observation that the whole world had gone after Him and that the religious leaders were powerless to stop it. We too we are powerless. We must wait for Jesus for God is all about perfect timing. It was when the time had fully come that God sent forth His son. But since Jesus’ arrival people were always rushing him to make water into wine and heal this person or solve this other problem. But Jesus would not be rushed. He was not one to be hurried, to scurry or to worry. He knew that His death would globalize His message and His resurrection would empower the church for the Great Commission. The fruit of the death of the Lord was and is our salvation. And we get a foreshadowing of it in the death and resurrection of Lazarus. But there is more instruction here if we are to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, adopt his standards and values in regard to death. We are to make something of this human life we have. The whole point of this is reaching out toward Christlikeness. But for the masses this is too often just a theory, not a life to be daily and actively lived out. Jesus uses the magnification of the thought of “hating” our lives in this world in contrast to our love of Him to attain this goal which is eternal life. Following Jesus in the path of sacrificial service will bring us honor from the Father. But we cannot do this and still seek the comfort of the world. This is where things get difficult and it brings Jesus and us to an honest conversation with God to explore the possibility of another way. But there is none.
And So, we like Jesus need to practice patience and purpose in the life we have been given. Dietrich Bonhoeffer who lived out today’s text from John, knew firsthand what it meant to be a martyr. He said that, ‘We must learn to regard people less in light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer. What I think he is saying is that if we are going to recapture our spirit of adventure for God, we must be willing to join in the suffering of others for the Kingdom of Christ. It is true that God wants our love more than our sacrifices, but the reality is with love comes a degree of suffering. And this obedience might well be the first daring step we must take to truly be a disciple of Jesus and to effectively help make disciples. For being obedient to this is an act of believing that others will see. It shows our commitment to be willing to persevere through the difficult challenges of life. Friends, the agonizing death of Jesus opened the door for us to experience salvation through our own troubled emotions. There is suffering in following Christ, but it is the kind of suffering that brings new life.
Pray our tears soften hearts and give us a better ability to grieve and even be open to hurt and wounding that in time might become a source of healing for others. Pray our tears open our emotions as a doorway to a new life. Pray our tears help to redeem us. Pray we realize that when Christ calls someone He bids them to come and die in some fashion. Pray however that we realize that such sacrificing for Christ always multiplies blessings. Pray we realize that seeds must die before they can grow and that we as Christians must die to ourselves before we can grow into what God would have us to be. Pray that the sacrifices we make be as acts of love and as signs of passion and commitment. Pray we realize that there is a cost of discipleship but that it is worth it.
Pray we trust God’s timing. Pray we trust God’s heart. Pray we trust God’s power. Pray we awake to the possibilities of what God is doing now, believe in Jesus Christ and live forever.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 