The Raising of Lazarus
John 11:1-45 NLT
“A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary, and Martha.”- John 11:1
This miracle was solely for Jesus glorification and nothing else. After all the miracles that Jesus had performed throughout the gospels, this particular miracle would be climactic in that raising someone from the dead simply didn’t happen all that often. The participants in this story, though believers in Jesus as the Messiah, all had different reactions to this event. Mary and Martha, with whom Jesus was friends and had spent much time in their company, lamented that if only Jesus had been present He could have kept their brother Lazarus from dying. While still in Perea, the disciples were intrigued by the purposeful delay as Jesus allowed two days to pass before He left for Bethany.
It is estimated that it would have taken a full day to travel from Perea to Bethany. That would account for the day the messengers came from where Lazarus was to go to Jesus. Scripture says Jesus then waited an additional two days, which was a total of three days almost as a way of ensuring Lazarus’ death. On the fourth day Jesus ventured to where Lazarus lie. In the hot Palestinian climate the body of Lazarus would have already begun to decay, thus emitting the terrible smell of death.Why didn’t He come straightaway?
Jesus had raised others from the dead, including Jairus’ daughter in Matthew 9:18-26 and the widow’s son in Luke 7:11-15, but this one was more personal. He knew Lazarus. He was a friend. He was close to Mary and Martha and undoubtedly would have done anything for them. So why the delay in coming? It was for the sole reason of showing all in attendance that God was the master over both life and death, even someone who had been dead for four full days.
Scripture tells us Jesus was angry and that He wept. While why He was angry seems unclear, it is widely thought that His anger was due to the unbelief that death was not the end of the road for Lazarus. Death is seen as being terminal. The end of life. But to Jesus, it was just another opportunity to show people how powerful their God was. His weeping may have been also due to their unbelief or simply because, seeing the sisters and the well-meaning mourners weeping and wailing over Lazarus’ death, He became overcome with emotion and wept along with them. Either scenario is possible.
As scripture shows us, even raising Lazarus from the dead did nothing to dissuade the religious leaders from wanting Jesus dead. Coming to this area, which was only two miles outside of Jerusalem, was risky for Jesus because of the disturbance He caused when He came into a town or city. The Pharisees were attempting keep the Roman government from bringing additional hardship to the Jewish nation. Their relationship with the Romans was tenuous at best. As long as they were quiet and obedient, the Romans gave them certain liberties. Jesus made waves wherever He went simply because of who He was.
How does all this relate to us today? First off, regardless of your circumstances, God always does what is necessary to do at the right time and always has. Whether in Bible times or in this day and age, He is consistently God to His children. There is nothing He cannot do should He so choose to do it. It’s our responsibility to trust God no matter how things look. God wins all the time. Secondly, we can see that believing in God means death isn’t the end. We have an eternal home awaiting us. That, my friends, is very good news. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.
In His name & for His glory,
Richard Keller
Bread of Life Ministries
Resources: The Life Application Study Bible; Expositor's Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): New Testament
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