Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." John 11:1-7REFLECTION
If only Jesus was here to help us! Martha and Mary are desperate. Their brother Lazarus is sick and I am sure that his sisters did everything they could to help him. Today we would make some quick phone calls, but the only thing Martha and Mary could do was sending a short, ‘telegram style’ message to their friend and Master. It was a message that would surely cause Jesus to get up right away and travel back to Bethany as soon as he could: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” But instead Jesus stayed two more days and only send an encouraging reply with a mysterious promise.
PRAYER
Lord, we now know how this story ended. But I want to stop at this point and think about the situation your friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus were in. They only had one desire – and it was a very good desire too – they wanted you to come and be with them in this hour of need. But you had a different agenda and they had to wait for two more days. Didn’t you love them enough? No, I am sure that you loved them and these Bible verses explicitly tell us that you loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Of course we all can see the prophetic message in this story – pointing us at the days that you stayed in the grave while your friends were just as desperate and distressed. Yes Lord, I want to think about the lesson that can be found in the first part of this amazing story. Help us to trust you, help us to keep the faith – even when everything seems to be hopelessly lost. We know your perspective on life’s circumstances is superior to our point of view. We will wait for you, because we know that you hear our cries for help and that you love us very much - even if you keep us waiting and wondering.
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2 comments:
I inadvertently put my response to this on your other blog, but let me recap that a delightful little boy I know died suddenly last night. This is a terrible, terrible case of prayer unanswered. He had come through a difficult operation last year only to die without warning last night.
I can see God’s merciful hand in Tyler’s death because his parents and siblings were with him in the room (they live more than 60 miles from this hospital). Nevertheless, he is dead. I know he was prayed for by many people. Why weren’t those prayers answered?
We know God intervenes on our behalf. But why doesn’t he do it every time? Tyler’s family doesn’t lack faith—and anyways, we understand that healing doesn’t depend on the ferocity of our faith. Does Jesus love Tyler’s family less than he loved Martha and Mary? That doesn’t square with my theology.
I lost my brother and sister as teenagers in terrible accidents. Their deaths wiped out my father’s faith. There are people who would say, “Well, he didn’t have enough faith,” but God testing our faith to the breaking point doesn’t match my theology either.
What would the story of Lazarus have been like had Jesus not intervened to save his friend? One can’t help but think that Mary and Martha would have been deeply hurt and seen his lack of interest as a betrayal. How then can we react any differently now, if we believe the Lord to be personally interested in our affairs?
Can you tell I’m struggling here? No great intellectual concepts for me tonight, I tell you.
BTW, I painted the Raising of Lazarus once, which you can see here:
http://goaway-letmepaint.com/images/images/faith/Lazarus.gif. I don’t think I’d paint it the same way again, but I still like the painting.
Thanks, Carol. I am touched by this and by your thoughts. What can I say?
I know that Jesus didn't go to prison to set his nephew and good friend John the Baptist free. I know that he didn't prevent the horrific beheading of this faithful prophet - although He sure was able to intervene. Why didn't he do so? If you read the book of Job, we must all learn that it is better to shut up and cry than to give 'rational' reasons or excuses on God's behalf. We are only human, we can't see things for God's eternal perspective. That is the only thing that I know. Without God and without Heaven, this all would be impossible to accept. With the reality of a loving, righteous Father and the certainty of Heaven - we can learn to look differently at these sad, terribly difficult things. I trust that God understands our anger and despair - read the Psalms and you will see that He allows us to shout out loud without holding back our emotions. I am afraid that there are no easy answers here. I just cling unto this conviction: Life is unfair, but God is good. Please also read my reply on your comment on www.abspoel.blogspot.com
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