The Purpose

…He prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.  John 11:51b, 52.

God uses people as He sees fit.  I like this thought because it means that no one is outside His influence or touch.

Nebuchadnezzar ended up glorifying God after several attempts to get him to pay attention.  Ruth, a Moabitess, was brought to Israel to be an ancestor of not only David but Jesus.  Throughout the whole of Scripture we see God doing things in an unconventional way.  What else could we want from a God?

The high priest thought he was being politically savvy by getting rid of a religious thorn in the flesh, but really he ended up doing the will of God despite his own intentions.  That just makes me laugh at the arrogance we humans sometimes get caught up in because here we are thinking somehow we are instructing or dictating God’s moves when all along its Him influencing and cornering us to get on with what He has for us to do.

I am amazed and awestruck by how shrewd our Master is at playing the heart.  He never forces anyone to follow His will but persuades them, in ways too clever to be avoided, that His way is best.  Even in the worst situations we can imagine—death, lingering sickness and a host of other problems that might arise—God uses our very “disadvantage” to bless others and hold us true to His path.

No one knows Caiaphus’ motives or heart for that matter and it would be presumptuous to read more into his words than we have available.  What we have available is enough to tell us what his goals were though.  He and the other leaders were about preserving the Jewish nation at all costs—even to the point of killing Jesus, who might be at the very least a prophet and at most the messiah.  This tells me something about the man and his ambitions.  It speaks loudly that he would sacrifice anything to remain in power, for one thing, for another he valued his national pride of being God’s chosen people above God’s will for that people.  I’m not even sure with all his education he grasped God’s purpose for the nation of Israel clearly.  He considered the messiah to be a Jewish blessing for the Jews alone not for the world at large, which means he either ignored or misinterpreted those passages speaking to the Christ’s mission.

So much has been assumed about Caiaphas and his father in law that I hesitate to add to it because I don’t want to perpetuate myth.  The truths found in John’s writings, however, are clear enough for anyone to see if they are awake to God’s Spirit.  These men were diabolical in their engineering of Jesus’ death, coldly calculating in their opposition of Him and ready to commit murder for the sake of their political goals.  These are not godly goals, which means these were not godly men.

I have mercy on some of them for their misguided zeal.  Paul was such a person, so I know many of them were sincerely wrong.  That doesn’t excuse their goals or methods.  They crucified the Son of God.  Crucifixion is a slow, humiliating and painful death.  These men wanted Jesus to suffer humiliation for the humiliation He had caused them.  Revenge pure and simple.

We should look at the world’s efforts to adjust the message of the gospel, modify the teaching or silence our voices in much the same way we see the leaders of Israel here.  They are not out for truth but maintaining the world as is and we must beware of them, for they will kill us to keep the light from shining on their lives.  Even though this is true, we should never despair for God is able to use even this to the further His goals and make us like His Son.

Mixed Reactions

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in Him.  But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.  Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.  John 11:45-47.

Again we have the Jews mixed reactions and I’m surprised by the negative reactions every time.  It doesn’t make sense to me that anyone would be threatened by Jesus’ power to raise the dead, but here they are.  What was so threatening about Christ’s ability to raise the dead, heal the sick or interpret Scripture?

John doesn’t mince words about those who betrayed Jesus, he calls it how he sees it.  In one way I wouldn’t be surprised if he was disappointed in the extreme with his countrymen.  They rejected the one whom he called “messiah” and Lord after all.  John wrote his gospel, from what I understand, originally in Aramaic, which means it probably was meant primarily for Jews.  The Jews fought the Son of God, in John’s presentation here, every step of the way.  Yes many received Him, but most rejected and hounded His every step, finding fault and looking for any means to get rid of Him.

I wonder how anyone could reject Jesus after such a miracle.  Does it makes sense that these men went away appalled at what they had seen, so worried in fact that they went straight to the Pharisees, who called a special session of the Sanhedrin in conjunction with the chief priests to troubleshoot what they obviously considered a problem.  I mean, listen to their reasoning:  “What are we accomplishing?”  they asked.  “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs.  If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

Does this make sense as an argument at all?

Jesus is being condemned for making people whole, for healing their bodies, resurrecting loved ones and teaching everyone the way of God.  Yet these men see nothing but a threat; nothing but trouble and their fear of the Romans is either an excuse or a real issue for them.  But nothing gets under my skin like Caiaphas who goes on to say,  “You know nothing at all!  You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

Ok, hold on just a second there, Maynard!  What the heck are you talking about?  You’re saying if Jesus doesn’t die, the whole nation will perish?  (Stay with me for a minute here, guys, before you move on.)  He’s talking murder for no other reason than that Jesus’ power has grown too much to go unnoticed by the Romans and that if He’s not eliminated, their oppressors will destroy the Jewish nation.

Obviously they weren’t thinking at all—even Caiaphas who so vehemently called the rest down for not doing so.  With Jesus as their commander and chief no army could stand against them for long because He could raise the dead, heal the wounded and feed the soldiers from nothing.  That doesn’t sound like a bad proposition for a king to me.  These men had to argue this at one time or another because if it occurred to me, it had to pop into the minds of someone in that crowd.  Yet their conclusion came down to this one issue:  They would lose what they had carefully preserved if Jesus took over the nation. 

Hmmm…that sounds a bit like something else I know.

I’ve discovered a trait in human nature that puzzles and troubles me, for I practice it as well unconsciously and I bet you do too.  We preserve our present understanding of reality with a vehemence bordering on fanaticism too often.  In other words, many of us hold to our pet doctrines with a fervor and zeal unwarranted by Scripture.  The power we gain from our “knowledge” is protected at all costs and anyone or anything that gets in our way is either avoided or eliminated as a threat.

The men in the Sanhedrin were of such a stripe.  They liked their nation as it was and wanted more of the same (mainly, I suspect, because they were in power and didn’t have to deal with the problems they created for the poor).  They expected, longed and planned for a messiah who could come to pat them on the back for their endeavors and not change a thing except to honor them all above everyone else for their faithfulness and wisdom.  Jesus rocked the boat, shook them out of their small-minded dream world and rebuked them for their misinterpretation of God’s Word.  That would make anyone angry.  Every addict resents being confronted with their condition, hates the people who reveal their secret obsession, and fights like mad to cling to the very thing that’s killing them.

What did Jesus call the Pharisees and leaders of Israel?  White washed tombs—pretty on the outside but full of dead men’s bones (which I take to mean their graves were not filled with just their own rotting corpses but others they had taken with them).  He never let them off the hook but shined a brilliant and blinding light on their attitudes and deeds.

Jesus’ kingdom is not like any world government we can imagine for it is one of the heart, soul and mind conformed to His.  That difference alone eliminates all other options and turns our spiritual eyes to the halls of heaven where He lives.

Caiaphas’ argument might have sounded off even by human terms, but John concludes something completely different.

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.  So from that day on they plotted to take His life.

Prophesied?  That means God was speaking through Caiaphas!?!  What’s going on here?  God doesn’t use ungodly men but those willing to do His will, who submit to Him in humility.  This man was plotting to kill God’s own Son and using religious sounding logic to do so for political ends.  How could God speak through Him?

The position is the key.  John points to the position not the man as the key to grasping why God would speak through such a man.  Despite his murderous intentions, Caiaphas still wore the mantel of high priest and as such became the oracle of God as necessary.  I’m pretty sure from this context he misused his position on more than one occasion for selfish gain.  Indeed, from Christ’s rebuke of the leaders, we can conclude these men of the Sanhedrin were instrumental in the injustices in Israel and the misinterpretation of Scripture.  They took the insignificant and played it like a key truth, for which our Master condemned them most stridently.

Anyone of us can become such people when our hearts are entangled by what the world offers.  How does John put it in another of his letters,  Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.  1 John 2:15-17.

What we value will be where our hearts live, for where our treasure is there our hearts will be also.

Jesus is the pearl of great price; His kingdom is the treasure hidden from the casual observer.  Why?  God wants only those who sacrifice all to find Him.  Loyalty and love which are given at the cost of all we have is the only kind worthy of His acceptance.  God is not interested in fair-weather friends or those just out for the reward.  The only servants He will commend to His kingdom will be those who have lost all this world has to offer for what He offers, and that means a changed heart and mind.

For the Benefit of…

So they took away the stone.  Then Jesus looked up and said,  “Father, I thank You that You always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent me.”

When He had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice,  “Lazarus, come out!”  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them,  “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”  John 11:41-44.

The one thing I hate about dead bodies—besides the death part—is the smell.  After four days of decomposing, Lazarus must have really reeked, which begs the question:  Why did Jesus wait so long?  Precisely for the moment of bad oder for nothing else could convince those witnessing what He was about to do the man was really dead as effortlessly as that smell.

This reminds me so much of the fact that we sometimes stink to high heave as well.  Our lives get the smell of death or something on them, or our circumstances stink, and we just wonder how long the Lord will wait before He comes to help us.  What does the Scripture say?  They that wait upon th e LORD…

Jesus’ prayer sounds like a conversation in one sense that’s been ongoing for a while; in another sense He seems to be talking to those present.  His purpose is to remind those around Him just Who is the master of life and death as well as support His own mission.  One of the things that strikes me about this situation is the timing of it all.  Lazarus’ ressurrection came at the end of Jesus’ ministry it seems.

I don’t have much more to say except that I like how Jesus ended the whole session with,  “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”  He’d done what needed to be done; He didn’t need to say anything more or preach a sermon about God’s way for He’d just demonstrated it in such a powerful irrefutible way what more could He have said?

When all said and done, it’s our actions that speak the loudest, that say the most about what we do or don’t believe.  Jesus could have driven the point home with scathing words about their unbelief and selfish ambition, but He didn’t.  We are to be like Him in everything, which means learning when and where to apply rebuke or let the lesson of our example speak for itself.  Sometimes silence says more than words do.

I guess my point is that sometimes when our life just stinks, it’s not as bad as it seems.  We have to learn that our situations will not end in death even if we die temporarily—horribly or peacefully.  At times it may seem God has forgotten us, but the above story should dispel this worry effectively.  He never forgets His children.  At the same time, His perspective is so different from ours since He sees what He’s about to do and we don’t, which why we must trust Him with our outcomes and have faith that He loves us no matter what it looks like reality is.

Dietrich Bonhoffer died naked, blindfolded and alone.  Paul was beheaded according to tradition.  Peter was hung upside down.  John was exiled to small prison Island of Patmos after being, according to one church father, thrown in boiling oil and surviving.  Thomas was impaled by spears in India or there abouts.  James was beheaded…

Do you see what I’m driving at here?  For those who believe, circumstances don’t have anything to do with our reality in Christ Jesus, for He will turn even the worst of trials into pure gold.  And, then, of course there’s eternity with him.

Setting the Stage

On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the toumb for four days.  Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.  John 11:17-20.

I might have to revise my timeline a bit.  If Lazarus had been the tomb four days already, then he must have died five days before, since embalming wasn’t the Jewish way but preparing the body was a tradition.  Whatever the timeframe we have a dead body that has been sealed in a tomb by a stone so the smell won’t escape too much…not that it worked flawlessly.

Jesus waits on the outskirts of town after sending word to the sisters.  I often wonder why He did it this way, though we have the Scripture to suggest after the Jews’ efforts to stone Him and a couple of specific miracles, He couldn’t enter a town without causing a stir.  I’m going with it being consideration on His part for their grief rather than self-preservation.

His first contact comes with the ever practical Martha.  She must go rebuke Him for His tardiness, bordering on a lack of consideration for those He claimed to love.  Yet even as she remonstrates Jesus, she shows more faith than most.  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”  She believed her Master could resurrect the dead.  I’ve heard a lot of criticism for Martha because of the cooking incident but really we must admit this woman’s faith in her Lord held firm with all doubt staring her in the face.

Jesus told her,  “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered,  “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her,  “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,”  she told Him,  “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

Jesus just challenged her assumptions then asked her the ultimate question of faith, which she passed with flying colors.  No wavering or hesitation; Martha’s faith stood firm even in the face of the ultimate disappointment.

Contrast this with Mary, you know, the one who sat at the feet of Jesus, who irritated Martha for her lack of work ethic and whom He praised for getting her priorities right.  Martha goes back to the house to tell Mary Jesus asked for her.  It’s significant that Mary didn’t go the first time, don’t you think?  Here’s the one who is so emotional and demonstrative hanging back from seeing the very one she loves so much.  But from the context I get that Mary was either angry with Jesus for letting her brother die or very hurt and resentful, thinking her family had been slighted, so she did what any passive aggressive person would do:  nothing apparently.  That is until Jesus asked for her personally through Martha.

Mourning in NT times would seem to be a show to many of us.  I think modern Western people would be embarrassed by the display of grief these people demonstrated.  In fact, some of the wealthy would actually hire mourners to emphasize how much they missed their loved one.  Mary really felt the agony of the loss and being a person who lived out loud whatever she felt, she would have been openly weeping, wailing and beating her breast—even tearing her clothes.

When she leaves the house, the Jews from Jerusalem wanted to continue comforting her so they went with her thinking she was headed for the tomb.  I’m pretty sure the fact Jesus was in town was unknown to them because both the sisters would be aware of the animosity of the Jews toward their Master.  Finding Jesus waiting for Mary on the outskirts of town probably surprised and troubled them.

Mary rebukes Jesus the same way Martha did but without the statement of faith her sister declared.  Tragedy brings out the nature of our belief.   Mary might still have believed in Jesus but her resentment, grief and sheer emotional upheaval left her bereft of anything else other than her immediate state.  Jesus, on the other hand, handles both sisters differently without missing a beat.  At first I thought to criticize Mary for her lack of faith, but reading Jesus’ reaction to her pain I thought better of it—because He did.  He didn’t intrude on her grieving with pious instruction or a well-earned rebuke, instead He felt her pain radiated in the people around her, who from what John says in this account, were friends of the family.

Jesus wept.

Much has been made of this.  The explanations vary in the same way the of Jews’ reactions.  “See how He loved him?”  came from one side of the spectrum, whereas,  “Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”  The contrast is more personality than belief.  In fact, I would go so far as to say we can’t tell from these statements who would believe and who wouldn’t.  Those who declare the most doubt, hubris and vehement opposition many times become ardent, enthusiastic and dedicated followers.  So concluding anything from the dividing line of reactions here would be as effective as assessing Martha or Mary.  Both women believed in Jesus, they just had different reactions to pain.

This makes me think that I and many other believers have reacted to other people’s pain or loss in an inappropriate matter.  Instead of instructing Mary as to His power, Jesus simply wept with her in simpathy, though not in grief, for He knew what He was about to do, so grief had no place in His heart.  We forget because of our own view of death how God views it.  It is a state not that much unlike what we were before we were born—which is to say merely a possibility though not an actuality.

The situation now sets the stage for one of the most unforgettable, irrefutible and wonderful miracles the Bible ever records.  Like any good story the mystery of what will happen next deepens, the conflict needing a resolution is set up and the moment of truth where we find out who wins the day is upon us.

But that’s not the end of the problems facing the Master.  No, John records one more to heighten the anxiety of the moment.  The moment Jesus said,  “Take away the stone.”  Our practical Martha, bless her heart, objected with,  “But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”  I can almost see her wrinkling her nose in anticipation.  Jesus’ answer must have exploded in her heart like a fireworks display of hope, for He said,  “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

I don’t think anyone but Martha and the disciples undestood what He was saying, though knowing the disciples, probably few of them had any idea what would happen next.  Yet I think Martha did for they rolled away the stone.  Mary, lost in her grief, couldn’t really register what Jesus said.  The cloud of agony weighed heavily on a spirit with her personality type.  This is not to put her down but merely to point out God deals with each of us differently.  He didn’t expect her to grasp what was going on because her grief would soon be turned to joy.  No rebuke or instruction would have reached her anyway, so Jesus left her alone knowing that as soon as her brother walked out of the tomb, she would be back on track again.

Oh, the wisdom, love and sheer patience of our Savior with all of us.  He considers us even while knowing we are living in futile circumstances and unnecessary emotional trauma.  He doesn’t clamp down on our feelings or hurt us more, instead He works on our behalf despite us and with love to bless us.

Hope Amongst Cynics

After He had said this, He went on to tell them,  “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

His disciples replied,  “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”  Jesus had been speaking of his death, but His disciples thought He meant natural sleep.

So then He told them plainly,  “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.  But let us go to him.”  John 11:11-15.

I’ve noticed Jesus likes the cryptic or hint that leads to the point rather than spoon feeding His followers.  His allusion to Lazarus’ death has made some wonder if He was defining what happens when we die.  I grew up with the understanding that Jesus was saying death is a sleep state.  Now rather than get into the argument about something for which I have no definitive answer, my thought now is that He isn’t giving us a glimpse into death here but leading the disciples to think outside their spiritual box.  I just think He was handing the disciples a word puzzle.

The best teachers are those who lead, rather than direct.  The best examples are always demonstrated rather than pre-made illustration.  Jesus gives us a hint then waits to see if we’ll take the nudge and act on it.  I admit I’m not good with this kind of thing because I always worry that I’ve read it wrong or missed something.  Still, I recognize the best way to go where Jesus wants us to is to follow His lead; which means we must become more circumspect in the way we hand out truth.

Have you ever noticed that those in the know shake their heads at those who can’t seem to grasp what’s going on?  It’s almost as if those of us in the modern Christian world believe we would have been different, more able to read Jesus’ truth behind His stories, and be better at grasping His points than the original disciples were.  Anytime I hear a preacher or teacher criticize the disciples I get a spiritual allergic reaction.  The fact is we are no better at understanding God’s ways than they were, though we might get His teaching better than they did.  And the reason we do is because the very disciples consider so dense (which they were) have laid it out for us and shown us the way.

The disciples’ grasp of what was happening and about to go down can be summed up in Thomas’ sardonic,  “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”  For some reason I’ve always taken the “him” in Thomas’ words to mean Jesus, but now I know it must have been Lazarus he was referring to, since the disciples still didn’t believe Jesus would die.  They believed Him to be the messiah and in their understanding of prophecies about the Anointed One, He lasted forever.  The only dead guy in the story was Lazarus.

Jesus’ wanted to make a point here that the disciples would probably miss until later anyway.  The whole focus of His ministry was to prepare a group of people for service in the world in order to show the power of God in a life.  We get so excited over healing and raising the dead that we miss the sheer wonder of how much a changed life is a miracle in and of itself.  He also set out to prove through Lazarus’ death who He was…could there be any doubt after such a tremendous impossibility took place?

Death is beyond us.  I don’ think we get the significance of it as much as we should—I include myself in this statement.  The miraculous power of Christ is also something we take for granted, and may be that is ok, but what it should do is wake us up.  Jesus’ goal here was not just to wake Lazarus up from the dead but those who followed Him as well as set a precedent no one else could attain and give the believer an example for which their is no comparison.  This miracle goes beyond human grasp of reality.

If we want to follow Jesus, this is where He’s leading us.

Reactions to Obedience

Then He said to His disciples,  “Let us go back to Judea.’

“But Rabbi,”  They said,  “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?”

Jesus answered,  “Are there not twelve hours of daylight?  A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light.  It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.”  John 11:7-10.

Following the call of God amounts to being put into the middle of a river where the current is strongest. It means we will be buffeted about by every whim of the waters swirling rush to the ocean.  It also means we will have to watch out for the obstacles in the form of rocks and branches that could hurt us.  For this reason we need to either learn to be strong swimmers or paddle the boat where it’s safest:  the center of the flow.

Jesus uses an illustration about “this worlds’ light” to tell us about Himself.  Remember what He said to the disciples when He healed the man born blind? 

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

The light of the world is Jesus.  Following Him means we don’t have to worry about seeing where we’re going because He lights the way.  The disciples were afraid for Him, with good reason, so His actions made no sense to them at all.  Why put His head into the lion’s mouth to no purpose?  That was their mistake for they didn’t understand His purpose, which made it hard for them to absorb the will of God.

Here’s where I get a little intense.

I hear so many Christians telling me what God’s will is for everyone.  “God wants us to be safe”  “God desires us to be secure” “God will provide all your needs”  “God wants us to be happy” and while I agree with all these because I believe God is loving and generous, a study of the Scripture will show these assumptions are imbalanced.  Read 2 Corinthians 10-12 (the chapters) where Paul talks about his work as an apostle.  beaten several times, shipwrecked, hungry, naked, in danger, and the list goes on.  Now study Luke 10, Matthew 10 and several other passages in Scripture, then ask yourself this question,  “What does God expect me to endure?”

Loyalty that is not tested by opposition is an unknown factor.  Love which is not given the ultimate test of loss, pain, suffering and persecution cannot be said to be real.  Many people claim to be followers of Christ but the moment they experience extreme suffering they waver in their faith.  Paul says to believers somewhere (and you can look it up in your concordance),  “You have not endured to the point of death.”  This is not a story which has no trauma or drama in it but one which calls us to the highest form of service—meaning we may lose everything.

Paul in his letter to the Philippians, claimed,  I consider all things lost to me so that I might know Christ.  That’s a bold statement and one which he proved with his life.

The disciples figured Jesus came into the world to bring about a restoration of Israel, and they were not wrong.  Yet they missed the timeline by a couple thousand years.  First the Son of Man had to suffer and die; before even this He had to risk everything (His life) to accomplish the goals the Father set out for Him.  This goal meant that while He was in the world, being its light, He needed to show the disciples what their work would be once He left them.  They were to serve Him in the face of extreme opposition, stand for Him though the heavens looked about to fall and never waver in their faith in His presence or love for them.

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

If Christ is living in us, His light will shine, which means we won’t be stumbling around in the dark because He is our light.  It also means that others who stand with us, even those who might not be believers at the time, will be able to see clearly because of our willingness to let Him be present in our lives.  This also should make us beware because a lot of those in darkness like it just fine and don’t welcome their thoughts and actions being brought to light.  Let’s get this point down:  If we let our light so shine before men, they will hate us, revile us, persecute us and reject us because of Jesus.  Our response, however, is polar opposite to theirs, for we will love them, show grace, extend mercy and forgiveness no matter what they do.  At the same time, we will refuse to stay away from the danger of their company, like Jesus going back to Judea at the promptings of His Father, in order to obey the Lord and Master of our hearts.

Why Lazarus?

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.  John 11:1-6.

The Jews refused to believe, so Jesus heads out of town to let the dust settle a little bit before He continues with the mission of waking the spiritually dead.  Yet not long after the previous meeting with them in Jerusalem, Jesus is called back into proximity to the very people He escaped the first time (or several times by this event).  Why, when they had not only tried to seize Him but threatened to stone Him—going so far as to pick the rocks up, would He put His head back into the lion’s mouth?

The second sentence in His reply to the messenger (I assume this is to whom He said the above) answers our question.  The Father was giving Jesus instructions about which exit He was about to take to accomplish more of His mission.  Jesus knew Lazarus would die from his illness, yet He remained where He was for two more days.  In other words, He recognized the opportunity granted Him by His Father to display the glory of not only the Father, but to further His own reputation as the Son as well.  I believe Jesus saw in this the calculated step He needed to take in order to dispel all doubt as to His identity.

Two more days to what purpose?

To be sure Lazarus was a corpse.  No brain scans for activity were available to ascertain death, which means Jesus would have to wait until the body began to decompose before anyone would believe He actually performed a miracle—at least in modern times.  The doubts surrounding this miracle still persist, of course, as they will, but the story leaves no room for doubt about the circumstances from the eyewitness account of it.  Lazarus was dead by even our reckoning, the smell of decomposition made sure of that.

Do you ever wonder at the methods of God?  Does it seem He comes too late to save or at least to avenge?  Does it seem the smell of death surrounds your efforts and all is lost to a wish for life?  Does your fruit seem to ripen only to fall and decompose?  Well, why does fruit fall from a tree?  Why does it rot?

John made certain we who read this account know Jesus loved these people.  They were like home away from home to Him.  This factoid raises the stakes of what happens next and goes a long way to explain certain details in the story.

He loved all three of them, yet…

Does it seem to you Jesus lied about Lazarus’ sickness not ending in death?  It could be taken that way, huh.  Those who take things way too literally could cast suspicion on the whole story by arguing “but Lazarus did die!” and walk away smugly confident no one could deny it.

The answer to this argument is found in Jesus’ phrasing,  “This sickness will not end in death.” Sure Lazarus died, but his death wasn’t a permanent state for Jesus raised him to life again, which means his sickness didn’t end in death but life.

Many of us will sleep in the dust before Jesus comes.  A portion will suffer horribly for the kingdom of God and look for all the world abandoned by Him in their darkest hour.  The promise of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, takes care of our despair in these dark times to give us hope and courage that these disasters, persecutions and sufferings will not end in death but produce everlasting life for those who remain faithful to Him.  Though the world stands against us with evidence that seems to prove our insanity, we refuse to stand down or give up hope in the One who saves us.  Though the circumstances look hopeless and our lives are considered wrecked by human reasoning, we know our Master went through similar hopelessness to show us how to have courage.  Though all seems lost to the void of empty efforts for the kingdom of God, there is no fruit on the vine and no cow in the stalls, we will rejoice in Christ our Savior, for He has shown us His salvation in the most unlikely symbol, the cross.

Fruit falls from trees and decomposes to plant and fertilize seeds.  Makes ya’ think, huh?

Learning to See

“You say,  ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.  Revelation 3:17, 18.

Nothing convinced them. 

Jesus said,  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.  John 9:41.

 Jesus corrected the Jews standing near Him about their self-perception.  They were convinced they understood the teachings of Scripture, had a handle on what God required of them and were in need of nothing.  In other words, these men thought they could see clearly, were wealthy by the measure of their success in the world market, and in need of nothing more.  Jesus let them know in no uncertain terms they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

No one likes to be condescended to or looked down on, but shining a light in a dark place always reveals the truth of what is.  When we are in darkness, we have no way to see whether we are truly clean or not, it’s hard to ascertain the condition of our clothes and many times we grope in the blackness trying to figure out what is causing that itch or pain.  Only in the light of day do we see clearly enough to remove all the dirt, see the condition of our clothing and in some sense know what is causing us discomfort.  But coming into the light after a long time of living in the dark is painful.  We might be glad to have the sunshine but that doesn’t make any less searing to our eyes when we first step into it from the dungeon of our sin.

Sin is causing us to die, slowly by our own reckoning, of course, because our time is so short.  Everyone recognizes (unless they suffer from schizophrenia) death is inevitable.  One thing I’m beginning to grasp, however, in my short time on earth is that time is relative.  My son (and when I was 5, me) sees even 30 minutes as a long time because he has no frame of reference for filling up the hours of his days with responsibilities that make it go faster.  At 49 I have seen the seasons come and go often enough that months go by in almost a blur sometimes.  I barely have enough time to accomplish the week’s work before it’s over and I have to start all over again.  For a 5 year old, time passes slowly because it’s less filled with stuff to do; for a man my age it goes quicker and quicker because we fill it up more.

My point is God looks at time differently than we do.  For Him a day is a thousand years and a thousand years a day.  And why?  For the simple reason that time is meaningless to one who has lived so long—eternity—and has so much to do.  In His view of our time on earth, sin is killing us pretty quickly.  I mean compare our measly 70+/- years to just 1,000, 000 and see how fast it passes—it’s a mere drop in the bucket of time, hardly worth mentioning except we value it while we live.  Our ability to see life is stunted by our sinful condition; our physical and spiritual eyes are blocked by the cataracts and mucous film of the decomposition dying brings about in one who separates themselves from the life source.  We don’t recognize it as such but this is the truth.

When the Jews began to see the light of Jesus’ teaching, they lost all innocence about it, therefore they were held responsible for their knowledge.  The realization of what Jesus taught brought about resentment and resistance in their hearts because He (and subsequently God the Father) didn’t conform to their desire of what life should be.  They resisted Him to the point of killing Him, thus, their guilt remained.  Their resentment of Jesus translated into resentment of God, who sent Him.

The eye-salve God would apply not only heals our blindness but takes away the sting of death.  The wealth that comes from purchasing it from Him cannot be lost, stolen or rusted, so therefore it is true wealth.  The purchase price has been paid through Jesus’ death, which means we have credit at the First Heavenly Trust Bank of Saving.  The clothes of white are straight from Christ’s righteousness, washed in His blood and purified from all stain of sin.  Our hearts will be recreated into this image on the day of His coming where we will be changed in an instant into His image.

A Lost Argument

Jesus answered them,  “Is it not written in your Law,  ‘I have said you are gods’?  If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—what about the one whom the Father set apart as His very own and sent into the world?  Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said,  ‘I am God’s Son’?”  John 10:34-36.

Nothing convinced them.

Ok, here’s a rabbit trail…how come these guys couldn’t capture one man?  I mean how hard would it be to surround Jesus and hold Him?  I’m pretty sure they couldn’t do so because the timing wasn’t right, but still, it seems they attempted several times to grab Him and failed.  Until Judas, of course.

Jesus’ argument appeals to the Jews’ commonsense, practical side.  In a nutshell His answer to them picking up stones seems to be,  “Hey look, you’re out to stone me for claiming to be God’s Son, yet you did ask if I was the messiah or not and I answered.  You didn’t like my answer but the miracles I perform testify that my claim is true, so why would you stone me when the evidence that I’m speaking the truth is in my favor?  Even your own Law called the prophets and servants of God ‘gods’ so why condemn me for the same claim since I work miracles beyond what anyone in Israel’s history has ever been able to do?”

Jehovah’s Witness and a few other “Christian” cults and sects claim the Jews misunderstood Jesus’ claim to God-hood and that He wasn’t claiming anything any other human couldn’t.  In other words Jesus wasn’t God but a god, a Son of God no different than anyone else in Israel or believers today.  I don’t buy this argument for one minute because John 1 makes it quite plain that Jesus created the world, which anyone who read Genesis would know only God could do.  No, Jesus claimed to be one with the Father in a unique way outside of human capability or possibility.

Yet I need to clarify His example demonstrated what we could have as well.  We can be one with God through Jesus Christ—may be not as God, but as gods.  He set us an example of what our lives could be like if we just opened to the Spirit of God.

A truth we often miss from this text is Jesus statement “and Scripture cannot be broken”.  I don’t know why it’s passed over so often, may be because we assume it’s truth or get sidetracked by the issue between Him and the Jews.  Whatever it is we need to burn this truth into our minds.  Scripture cannot be parcelled out or piecemealed it has to be taken as a whole to be understood.  The seeming dichotomies and paradoxes which exist in Scripture deal with God’s efforts on behalf of sinful human beings not His desire for the universe at large.  This truth is one of the main reasons I encourage people to study the Law and prophets once they get a handle on the gospels.  Without an understanding of the past, we can never really grasp the present or the future.

At the end of the day, Jesus left Jerusalem for the other side of the Jordan, where John began his ministry.  I don’t think He did this just as means of getting away from the Jews.  In fact, as I read the text it seems to be a subtle reminder of John’s testimony about His identity as the messiah.  Those who followed or met Him there concluded that John was right.

Have you ever been to a place where the past comes up to remind you of a truth or something special that happened there?  I think the Jews would have been even more inclined toward this way of remembering because they were to put marker stones (see Joshua 4:1-9 as an example) everywhere God did something special in order to remind themselves of His work on their behalf.  This place where John’s ministry began reminded them of his testimony about Jesus and they could say,  “all that John said about this man was true.”  And in that place many believed in Jesus. 

Why is it the those outside the seats of power, the center of learning and social hubs accept Jesus where the powerful, educated and socially aware do not?

It has to do with arrogance, in some cases, but I also think that many of us become so fat with our own brand of religion, politics or popularity that we simply don’t want anything more than what we have.  God’s approval or disapproval means nothing if we are already wealthy in the world’s view of us.  I still see dissatisfied, dysfunctional people and unhappiness in that camp, but I know their arguments.  Most just don’t want God to interfere with what they want to do while at the same time they expect Him to keep them out of trouble, secure their lives and make them happy.

If Scripture cannot be broken, then we have to conclude no one can be happy, satisfied or trouble free outside of obedience to God.  Nothing which does not equal eternal investment will give satisfaction beyond the moment.  No blessing of the moment which is not sanctified by the Spirit of God will last for eternity.

The Jews loved the praise of men (see John 12:43, Luke 11:43) but ignored the praise of God.  They craved power, prestige and wealth thinking these things were a sign of God’s favor, all the while refusing the heart God wanted them not only display but to create inside.  Thus they rejected Jesus for temporary profit.

We who believe give ourselves over to the humble carpenter who came not in grand style, flashy parades or a beautiful person.  He shows us that the ordinary of God is of more value than the empty profit the world offers.  A person who becomes beautiful in spirit grows in worth not only to God but others around them as well as themselves.

The Unmistakable

“I and the Father are one.”

Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus said to them,  “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father.  For which of these do you stone me?”

“We are not stoning you for any of these,”  replied the Jews,  “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”  John 10:30-33.

The Jews decided to challenge Jesus.  They caught Him walking in the temple just taking in the peace of it, from the sound of the text, and confronted Him.  “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  Jesus’ reply angered them so much they took up stones to kill Him.  Now this might seem a singular event but they had been looking for a reason to kill Him for a long time, and this time they found one.  Not that their conclusion had any validity.  They asked, He answered.  They didn’t like His answer, so they decided to rid themselves of His influence once and for all.

Humans are fickle creatures.  They claim to want a Savior, then when they get one they decide he’s not good enough and crucify him in public opinion or kill him outright.  The Jews wanted a David mixed with a Joshua, not this rabbi from a despised town.

Up to this point Jesus had been rather cryptic in His claims to being the messiah and God’s Son.  Using the evidence of His miracles and teaching to support His claims—or hints in His case.  Yet wouldn’t you or I know what that when He called God His Father, He was claiming to be God?  I don’t  think so, because God called David His son and Abraham’s descendents His children.

Jesus rebukes the Jews frustration,  “I did tell you, but you do not believe.”  The leaders of Israel prided themselves on their spiritual insight into the Torah, yet they missed Jesus references to Himself by a mile, which tells me there was something else at work in them.

A person who hears the truth yet sidesteps it or in some way doesn’t grasp the significance of what is said has a one of three problems:  1)  they are out of touch with reality  2)  they have brain damage and therefore cannot understand what is being said  3)  they are so fixated on something else what is said makes no sense to their current state of mind.

I choose number 3 as the problem with the Jews.  Their own interpretations were so much more attractive than this man from Galilee that their spiritual ears were hardened.  All they heard Him say was that He was God, nothing else Jesus said struck a chord in their hearts.

Look at the evidence for Jesus’ claims.

He walked on water.  Raised the dead.  Healed leprosy, turned water into wine, cured a man born blind and taught with great authority.  He calmed a storm with a firm rebuke.

The Jews knew all this for they had spies everywhere watching His every move.  The evidence for Jesus being sent by God was overwhelming.  So why did they refuse to believe in Him?

Their eyes were not fixed on God.  They had no relationship to their own Master except as a religious movement.  They saw the miracles as evidence of Satan rather than God.  How they concluded this, I’m at a loss to figure.  Everything Jesus did went against the norm of Satan’s kingdom.  To heal a person Jesus never had to draw symbols, chant spells or any of that hocus pocus that accompanies the world’s methods of such things.  Especially during His time would His methods have stood out in stark contrast to the world around Him—even to  the priests and rabbis.  All He did when He healed or commanded a miracle was speak the word and it happened.  There were no special words, no blood spilled and nothing done in a dark place.

The power of Jesus was instantaneous and final, yet the Jews refused Him.  Do you think they wanted the theatrics?  Of course they did!  They also expected the messiah to deliver them from their Roman oppressors and set up Israel at the same time as a world power again.  Unfortunately these people had no heart for the world in the way God did.  They would rule world with callous, cruel and careless power wielded at their own pleasure and with disregard for any other nation besides their own.  Their nature was not in the image of God but a religious reflection of the world’s attitudes and methods.  In other words, they had the right store front but the same products.  They put on the religion of the invisible God but refused the heart.

Even in the law mercy, grace and love for all people was paramount.  The most legalistic document in our religion’s backlog of teachings has mercy and just at its core.  Study it and you’ll see God places justice and mercy throughout the whole of the law.  These leaders ignored this teaching for their preferred conclusion.

Jesus came to give life to the full. 

They just wanted to be in charge. 

Jesus came to save.

They wanted to preserve their way of life.

Jesus came to change the heart.

The preferred their current mix of self-actualization.

“I did tell you, but do not believe.  The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but do not believe because you are not my sheep.”

My last point is this:  From this text we know Jesus claimed to be God.  The Jews about to stone Him knew it, so why do others refuse to acknowledge this truth?  There’s no mistaking His claim here because the Jews listening sure got the message.  When they told Him what they heard Him say, notice He didn’t deny He said it.

Now That’s something to think about, wouldn’t you say?