March 18 Finally – Resurrection

John 11:1-3 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 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. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 “The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.” 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

JOHN 11-18 records Jesus’ last 30 days of Jesus’ life on earth. Jesus will use this time to set the stage for his death, resurrection and ascension. He has much work to do as he strives to prepare his closest disciples to become passionate apostles once he has left earth.
              With that in mind, let’s look now at this account of Lazarus’ resurrection. Although the Bible has several resurrection accounts, this is perhaps the most well-known, second only to that of Jesus’ own resurrection.
              Resurrection is the Bible’s theme. Consider this: Jesus words, “The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus.” is a topic sentence, a purpose and a promise statement of the entire Bible! This is our hope as Jesus’ disciples, isn’t it? That is the hope we have when we begin to read this story of Lazarus. We know the final result of his death is resurrection! We have hope and joy in our heart. We are able to wait on Jesus’ lingering to go to his friend’s aid. We understand why he waits. We know God is about to unveil his resurrection power to Lazarus, Lazarus’ sisters and mankind.
              Genesis, though, evokes the opposite emotions. When you begin reading of God’s wondrous creation and see the words, “and it was good” do you not have a sense of grief lurks in your heart? You know what is will happen in Genesis 3 is not good. Disobedience, sin – death – enters into perfection. “Good” suddenly is gone, it seems. And the rest of the Bible is a story of rebellion against our Creator and his persistent love, even as he promises to resurrect Eden once again on earth.
              Amid the sin, slavery and judgment in the Old Testament, you find God’s persistent love. He repeatedly assures you that your life will not end in death if you obey his commands. Then comes Jesus and this moment. Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, is about to once again demonstrate God’s good, creative, life-giving power.
              When we live a “resurrected” life, we live with a trust in Jesus’ “good” power to bring us to God’s full life each day and eternally. Resurrected from our sins in Jesus, we can get up in the morning to confront the “not-good” events of each day. We can be glad for challenges. We can face adversity squarely in the face and have the strength of life in Christ to overcome it. You can even be at peace when Jesus lingers to come to you.


Prayer: Thank you, God, that this life does not end in death. In Jesus’ name I rejoice! Amen.