John 11:1-57
The death and resurrection of Lazarus gives us some unique insights into Christ and the way that He handles our problems. I believe that there are lessons to learn from what Christ did, from what Mary and Martha did as well as how the Pharisees reacted to all that happened.
CHRIST
KNOWS HIS PURPOSE IN OUR PROBLEMS: When Christ found out about Lazarus being sick, He immediately knew what was going to happen and how all of this would be used in His larger plan. What is important for all of us to realize is that no sickness, death or circumstance is ever out of God's control and beyond His knowledge or purpose. Every problem He allows us to face in life or death is a part of His ultimate purpose for us and what He is doing on earth. We might not be able to understand or even discern what this purpose might be but it should be a comfort for us to know that God does.
CARES ABOUT OUR PAIN DURING OUR PROBLEMS: Even though Christ knew that Lazarus would soon be alive, He still wept over the pain and hurt that his death caused to this family whom he loved very dearly. Christ knows the pain and hurt that we feel and He cares very deeply for each one of us. When someone we love hurts we usually hurt right along with them. It should be a comfort for us when we face difficulties to know of Christ's care for us. His love for us must never be questioned even when we might not understand why He chooses not to relieve the pain we face we must not doubt His love and care.
IS ABLE TO PROVIDE RELIEF IN OUR PROBLEMS: He has all the power that is necessary to take care of whatever difficulty that might come up in our lives. He is able to raise the dead, cure the sick or do whatever might be needed. He does not always choose to do these things but He is able. So if He decides not to bring the relief that we wish He would, we must simply trust that He knows what He is doing and why He is doing it and that it will be best for His glory and ultimately for our good. We can have full confidence in His ability and trust in His wisdom to know how to use that ability in the best way possible.
MARY AND MARTHA
TAKE THEIR TROUBLES TO CHRIST: When Lazarus became sick the sisters immediately sent for Jesus. They knew that He cared and that He had the ability to heal Lazarus. If we truly know Christ we will be faithful to take our troubles to Him. Too often we think that we can or must handle things on our own but that is a mistake. We must not try to do things on our own or believe that we are somehow capable of doing things without Him. We must take our troubles to Him.
TRUST CHRIST IN THE MIDST OF THEIR TROUBLES: Even though Jesus delayed in arriving, they did not become angry or bitter; they simply stated that they still trusted Him. They wished that He had arrived earlier but were not about to question or doubt His goodness or care because He did not do as they had wished. I think that we can all learn much from the actions and attitudes of these sisters.
PHARISEES
FEAR LOSING THE LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE: When word of Lazarus coming back to life spread the Pharisees knew that they were in trouble because many people would believe in Him. They hold an emergency meeting to decide what they are going to do. It is a losing battle to try to go against the Lord. Those who insist of doing so will live their lives in fear.
FAKE THAT THE LORD WAS A RADICAL: They rationalized that Christ's rising popularity would eventually cause the people to follow Him and reject Rome's authority and spark a rebellion. They convince themselves that it would be better to kill Christ in order to "protect" the people from the war that Rome would wage if Jesus were to be declared king. It is amazing how proficient we are at rationalizing our sin and that is just what these men did. We must beware of the fact that this same propensity to rationalize sin is within each one of us. We might not be scheming to kill Christ, but we do scheme on excuses to disobey Him.
CHRIST
KNOWS HIS PURPOSE IN OUR PROBLEMS: When Christ found out about Lazarus being sick, He immediately knew what was going to happen and how all of this would be used in His larger plan. What is important for all of us to realize is that no sickness, death or circumstance is ever out of God's control and beyond His knowledge or purpose. Every problem He allows us to face in life or death is a part of His ultimate purpose for us and what He is doing on earth. We might not be able to understand or even discern what this purpose might be but it should be a comfort for us to know that God does.
CARES ABOUT OUR PAIN DURING OUR PROBLEMS: Even though Christ knew that Lazarus would soon be alive, He still wept over the pain and hurt that his death caused to this family whom he loved very dearly. Christ knows the pain and hurt that we feel and He cares very deeply for each one of us. When someone we love hurts we usually hurt right along with them. It should be a comfort for us when we face difficulties to know of Christ's care for us. His love for us must never be questioned even when we might not understand why He chooses not to relieve the pain we face we must not doubt His love and care.
IS ABLE TO PROVIDE RELIEF IN OUR PROBLEMS: He has all the power that is necessary to take care of whatever difficulty that might come up in our lives. He is able to raise the dead, cure the sick or do whatever might be needed. He does not always choose to do these things but He is able. So if He decides not to bring the relief that we wish He would, we must simply trust that He knows what He is doing and why He is doing it and that it will be best for His glory and ultimately for our good. We can have full confidence in His ability and trust in His wisdom to know how to use that ability in the best way possible.
MARY AND MARTHA
TAKE THEIR TROUBLES TO CHRIST: When Lazarus became sick the sisters immediately sent for Jesus. They knew that He cared and that He had the ability to heal Lazarus. If we truly know Christ we will be faithful to take our troubles to Him. Too often we think that we can or must handle things on our own but that is a mistake. We must not try to do things on our own or believe that we are somehow capable of doing things without Him. We must take our troubles to Him.
TRUST CHRIST IN THE MIDST OF THEIR TROUBLES: Even though Jesus delayed in arriving, they did not become angry or bitter; they simply stated that they still trusted Him. They wished that He had arrived earlier but were not about to question or doubt His goodness or care because He did not do as they had wished. I think that we can all learn much from the actions and attitudes of these sisters.
PHARISEES
FEAR LOSING THE LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE: When word of Lazarus coming back to life spread the Pharisees knew that they were in trouble because many people would believe in Him. They hold an emergency meeting to decide what they are going to do. It is a losing battle to try to go against the Lord. Those who insist of doing so will live their lives in fear.
FAKE THAT THE LORD WAS A RADICAL: They rationalized that Christ's rising popularity would eventually cause the people to follow Him and reject Rome's authority and spark a rebellion. They convince themselves that it would be better to kill Christ in order to "protect" the people from the war that Rome would wage if Jesus were to be declared king. It is amazing how proficient we are at rationalizing our sin and that is just what these men did. We must beware of the fact that this same propensity to rationalize sin is within each one of us. We might not be scheming to kill Christ, but we do scheme on excuses to disobey Him.
Comments
Post a Comment