There are certain Bible stories in which most people probably
know the storyline. Adam and Eve, Noah
building the ark and David and Goliath are just a few of them. I came across another one this past week in
my devotional reading that I have read and heard about many times. But something jumped out at me on this
particular morning as I read about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
As I said, most of us are familiar with the main points of this
event. Lazarus lived in Bethany with his
sisters, Mary and Martha, and they were very close friends of Jesus. In this story, Lazarus became very ill and so
his sisters immediately sent a message to Jesus, telling Him of the state of
their brother. I’m guessing that they
thought that Jesus would immediately drop whatever He was doing to come to
Lazarus’s bedside and heal him. But that
wasn’t what happened. When He received
the news, Jesus 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 (John
11:4).” Then, instead of rushing
to heal him, Jesus stayed right where He was for two more days.
By the time Jesus did arrive in Bethany, He was informed that
Lazarus had died and had been in the grave for four days. As you can imagine, Mary and Martha were
distraught at the death of their brother and told Jesus that if He would have
only come right away, He could have healed him.
In verse 23 in John 11, we read that Jesus told Martha that her brother
would rise again, but she thought He was talking about the last day when all
Christians will rise.
As Jesus saw how distraught Mary and Martha were, along with
many of their friends, He became angry at their unbelief of what He could do. We read in John 11:33-44, “When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the
other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was
deeply troubled. ‘Where have you put him?’
he asked them. They told him, ‘Lord,
come and see.’ Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said,
‘See how much he loved him!’ But some
said, ‘This man healed a blind man.
Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?’ Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the
tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. ‘Roll the stone aside,’ Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested,
‘Lord, he has been dead for four days.
The smell will be terrible.’
Jesus responded, ‘Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if
you believe?’ So they rolled the stone
aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven
and said, ‘Father, thank you for hearing me.
You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these
people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.’ Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet
bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, ‘Unwrap him and let him
go!’” Can you imagine how everyone’s
jaws dropped as Lazarus made his appearance!
As I shared, I have read this story many times but what hit me
this time was the fact that Jesus told them to roll the stone away. Why did he tell them to do this? If He could raise Lazarus from the dead by
just speaking words…He surely could have just told the stone to move and it
would have, without the help of those in attendance.
Could it be, that Jesus wanted them to trust Him enough to do
the simple act of rolling the stone to the side? Martha was hesitant to have this done because
she knew the odor would be overwhelming, but Jesus wanted her to trust Him
enough to do as she was told. I think if
I would have been Jesus, I would have said something to the effect of, “Are you
kidding me Martha? How many times have I
proved my power to you? When will you
understand that I can do far more than you can ever imagine if you just believe
in Me and do what I tell you to do?”
Jesus needed Martha, Mary and everyone else there to believe in
Him enough to do the simple act of rolling the stone away. I have to admit that as I thought about this,
my first response was also one of unbelief that they didn’t trust Him enough to
obey Him. And then it hit me between the
eyes. How many times in my life has
Jesus asked me to do something and I have balked. I’ve questioned His motives. I’ve reminded Him of all the bad things that
can happen if I do what He is asking of me.
I’ve dragged my feet, hoping He will change His mind and let me go
another route; all because I didn’t trust.
There were times when I was raising our children that they
questioned me as to why they had to do a particular task. Oftentimes, my response was, “Because I said
so.” I expected them to obey just
because I spoke the words. I have a
feeling that it is no different with my Heavenly Father. I’m guessing that those times I have kept
whining and asking why…He just wanted to say to me, “Because I said so.”
How about you? Is Jesus
asking you to do something but instead of believing and trusting in His power,
you just keep asking “Why?” I imagine if
you take the time today to be still and listen for His voice, you just might
hear Him say, “Because I said so”.
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