Death and Resurrection

Women Of Faith in Sacramento

John, Chapter 11, tells the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  Mary and Martha were Lazarus’ sisters.  All three of them were close friends of Jesus.  Mary, Martha, and Lazarus knew that Jesus was the son of God.  They knew he loved them. 

            One day, Lazarus became sick.  His sisters knew that their friend Jesus, the son of God, would be able to heal their brother, so they sent for him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”  They knew that Jesus loved their brother Lazarus and that he would heal him. 

            However, when Jesus got word of Lazarus’ illness, instead of rushing to him, he decided to stay where he was for two days.  Then, instead of leaving to go to Lazarus in Bethany after two days, he went back to Judea.  Meanwhile, in Bethany, his beloved friend lay dying. 

            I heard this story again with new ears this weekend at a Women of Faith conference.  I thought about what Mary and Martha must have felt sitting at their brother’s bedside.  After they sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, I’m certain they were filled with hope.  They trusted that Jesus loved them and that he had the power to heal their brother, that he’d be there soon and he’d make Lazarus well.   

 But time continued to pass…enough time for Jesus to have gotten to their home and healed Lazarus.  Where was he?  Why wasn’t he there yet?  As the hours and days passed, and Lazarus got weaker, the sisters’ faith may have weakened as well.  Maybe he wasn’t coming?  But he loves us!  He’s the Son of God, capable of anything!  Surely, he’ll come in time!

But he doesn’t.  Lazarus dies.  The pain that the sisters must have felt.  Not only because they’d lost their brother, but because their beloved Jesus, who was capable of coming to heal him, had chosen not to.  They believed with their whole hearts that He’d come and he hadn’t.

I haven’t lost my brother, as Mary and Martha did, but I suffered the metaphorical "death" of my dream...my plan for my life.  For as long as I can remember, I've planned on being a wife and mom.  I remember in High School, we had to write a poem about our dream for our future.  I didn't write about career goals, I wrote mine about the family and home I would have.  From a very young age, I trusted that I would get married and have children.  I had an unwaivering faith that my dream would come true.  I couldn’t imagine that God wouldn’t answer my prayer.  As the years passed, and all of my friends got married, doubt started to nibble away at my hope, and my faith that God would do it weakened.  I started saying, “IF I get married” instead of “When I get married”.  More years passed, more weddings, and all those friends who married started having babies.   But not me.  And somewhere in the last couple of years, I stopped dreaming.  I made myself stop thinking about my wedding day, the man I would marry, the kids I would have, because it was just too painful to hope anymore.  But not hoping hurt, too. Just like with Lazarus, I thought God had "taken too long" and my dream died. 

            BUT, that wasn’t the end of the story for Lazarus.  Jesus knew Lazarus had died.  He’d known all along that he would.  After Lazarus had been dead for four days, Jesus arrived in Bethany.   He sought out Mary and Martha, and He wept for Lazarus with them. But not for long.  He demanded that the stone from the tomb be moved and called for Lazarus to come forth.  And Lazarus did.  From death to life.

            So, why did he allow Lazarus to die if he planned on resurrecting him? Here is what Jesus said:

“This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God,

that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

John 11:4

“Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not

there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

John 11:15

“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know

 that You always hear Me, but because of the people who

 are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

John 11:42

            Jesus allowed Lazarus to die so that He could raise him and be glorified through it, so that others would see that He is a God of Miracles.  They'd already seen Him make sick people well.  How much more powerful would it be to witness the resurrection of a man long-dead?     
            So, if death wasn’t the end of the story for Lazarus, maybe it’s not for me. After all, he loves me as deeply as he loved Lazarus.  If Jesus let Lazarus die so that He could display His power over death and be glorified, maybe He let my dream die because He has plans to resurrect it, and resurrect it for His glory.   

 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and 

lean not on your own understanding."

Proverbs 3:5