Lazarus Resurrection

Run To Jesus In Times Of Despair

Mary ran to Jesus when she heard that He wanted to see her. Martha told Mary that Jesus was requesting to see her. He knew that she was grieving and wanted to bring comfort to her pain so He requested to see her. She immediately ran to Him..

Those that were with her ran with her to Jesus. They did not know that she was going to Jesus. They thought she was going to the grave to grieve. They were not going to see Jesus, but to perform a job of mourning. In this culture they had professional mourners that would mourn with the families. They had no feelings for the family, they were there to perform a duty. It was believed that the louder the mourning, the more honor was brought to the deceased.

So we have two groups of people that are running to Jesus. One that has a sense of despair and on that is oblivious to what is going on.

Mary exclaimed that her brother would not have died if Jesus had been there. She knew that Jesus could have spared Lazarus life if he would have come when they requested. Perhaps she was disappointed or even angry with Jesus. It is obvious she is hurting. She cries out in her pain to Jesus.

I find it interesting that the group that follows Mary is the group that is critical of Jesus. They even say : But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” It is almost as if they are mocking the claims of Jesus

We can run to Jesus in our times of despair

Jesus is waiting for us to turn to him with our deepest hurts. He is the one that can heal and comfort us in our deepest hurt.

COMFORTERS

When I Was Diagnosed With Cancer:

My first friend came and expressed his shock by saying,"I can’t believe that you have cancer. I always thought you were so active and healthy." He left and I felt alienated and somehow very different.

My second friend came and brought me information about different treatments being used for cancer. He said,"Whatever you do, don’t take chemotherapy. It’s a poison!"He left and I felt scared and confused.

My third friend came and tried to answer my whys? "with the statement,"Perhaps God is disciplining you for some sin in your life?"He left and I felt guilty.

My fourth friend came and told me,"If your faith is just great enough God will heal you."He left and I felt my faith must be inadequate.

My fifth friend came and told me to remember that, "All things work together for good. "He left and I felt angry.

My sixth friend never came at all. I felt sad and alone.

My seventh friend came and held my hand and said, "I care, I’m here, I want to help you through this."

He left and I felt LOVED!

SOURCE: Written by Linda Mae Richardson, Assistant Director of Victory in the Valley. http://www.victoryinthevalley.com/ Used with permission.

Jesus is the person that will hold our hand and walk through our difficult time with us.

COMFORTABLE IN HELL

Jeff Strite tells this story about his Dad.

My Dad was what was known as "a rounder." A man’s man. Hard worker, hard fighter, and a hard player of baseball and basketball. He was attractive to women and he loved to go out and dance.

Now, it’s not that dad was a stranger to church (when he first met mom, he kissed her behind the furnace in a church basement). He wasn’t unfriendly to church, it’s just that God held little interest for him. He didn’t need God to run his life.

After he married mom, they settled down as married couples did. Mom, a deeply religious woman, never failed to go to church, but Dad always had work to do. And - well, church wasn’t all that important anyway. But after awhile, mom’s church going got to bothering him. He accepted the idea that he might go to hell, but the idea of being there without the woman he loved troubled him.

Dad finally decided to force mom to avoid church. He asked her if she would feel comfortable in heaven if he were in hell.

Now, Mom was the quiet type of Christian who didn’t try to force her faith down dad’s throat, but now she had the opportunity to address his need. How would she respond?

She thought for a couple of moments and then asked him: "Lowell, would you really feel comfortable if I were in hell with you?"

The simplicity of her response led Dad to change his way of thinking and he turned his life over to Jesus. Why? Because hell wasn’t a comfortable concept to him especially when it came to someone he loved.

When we refuse to go to Jesus with our pains we put ourselves in a practical hell. What’s worse is we put those around us and close to us in the misery and hell we are in. Run to Jesus and get out of the hell you put yourself in!

Jesus Was Troubled In Spirit!

It is an interesting word that is used in this passage of scripture. It is used 3 other times in the New Testament and it implies anger. But the context for which it is used could mean something else.Barclay says: In ordinary classical Greek, the usual usage of embrimasthai is of a horse snorting. Here, it must mean that such deep emotion seized Jesus that an involuntary groan was wrung from his heart.

William Barclay, The Gospel of John, vol. 2, The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY: Edinburgh, 2001), 113.

I tend to believe that it can mean both. Let me explain. I believe this troubled spirit could mean that Jesus is outraged at the consequence of sin in Lazarus life. The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. This means all will die. The affect of death on the living is very painful. The reason he had to die is because he was a sinner.

I also believe that Jesus was angry with the hypocrisy of the people that were mourning. They had no interest in the well-being of Mary and Martha. They were pretending to be something that they weren't . The hypocrisy of the people angered Jesus.

The Word that Barclay points out fits Mary’s situation. She is grieving deeply and Jesus associates himself with her grief. So much so that the Bible says “Jesus Wept”. Jesus put himself in a position to feel what Mary was feeling. He could perfectly identify with her grief.

You may ask why the expression of emotion is so important with Jesus. It demonstrates that God is not an apathetic God. He is One with real emotions when He deals with us. There will be times where He is angry and disappointed with us and discipline us. There will be times where He feels our pains and comforts. There will be times where he is happy with us and bless us. God is not an apathetic God but one who understands us perfectly and uses His emotions to develop us.

It is good to know that God cares enough to know how we feel and deal with us accordingly.

Lazarus Resurrection

Faithful Expectation

When Jesus went to the tomb and ask for the stone to be removed, Martha opposed Jesus because Lazarus had been dead 4 days and there would be a stench. Jesus said something powerful in John 11:40

John 11:40 NASB95

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

Martha’s eyes were on the current situation and not on the promise of Jesus. He reminded her that He was the resurrection and the life and that the she was about to witness the glory of God.

Jesus can take what seems to be an impossible situation and bring glory to God through it. We too like Martha may have our eyes fixed on the situation at hand and not believe the promise of God.

God’s Word is full of promises that we may not fully understand because we have not experienced them in our lives. When a situation arises that calls for a promise of God, have faith.

There is a little book called the Promises of God. I encourage you to get a copy and keep it handy. It categorizes situations in life that we deal with and lists the promises of God associated with them. It is a very handy book.

Miracle Prayer

Jesus asks the Father to display His glory by answering Jesus prayer. Then He tells why God is going to answer the prayer. “so that they may believe that You sent Me.” God’s miracles are always meant to point people to Jesus.

I have heard countless testimonies of people who have been rescued from tragic circumstances where they should have died. Things like car accidents, terminal illnesses, and dangerous situations. Because God spared their lives they gave their lives to Jesus and followed Him.

God always uses miracles to point people to Jesus and bring glory to His name. So the next time your praying for a miracle, ask the Lord how it will do those two things.

Lazarus Come Forth

Lazarus has been dead for 4 days and Jesus calls to Him “come forth”. Lazarus came back alive and walked out of that grave just as alive as he was before he died. Jesus gave life to a dead person.

Jesus continues to do that today. For the lost person, their soul is dead. They have no sensitivity to life. They can’t hear, touch, taste, feel, or see. The lost person has no sensitivity to God. They can’t perceive anything spiritual.

1 Corinthians 2:10–15 NASB95

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.

How do you know your saved? You have the ability to discern spiritual matters. The unsaved person does not have this ability. Where are you this morning.