John 11:1-6, 11-15 RSV
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. . . . Thus he spoke, and then he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

Yesterday, in church, this passage was the topic of the preacher's sermon. And, as he was speaking, I was impressed by something: Jesus didn't do the kind thing. He didn't do the nice thing. He didn't do what we normally "even as Christians" would have expected someone else to do.

One of Jesus' best friends, Lazarus, was sick. The family (the sisters, Mary and Martha) were well acquainted with Jesus' ability to heal. They had likely not only heard the stories but been first-hand observers to miraculous healings. They were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and, as such, had the power within His hands to heal all illnesses. They were also convinced that Jesus was their friend. Their home was always open to Him as both a retreat and a place from which He could conduct His ministry.

And now Lazarus was ill, a sickness that was terminal. The sisters likely had exhausted all means available to them through human efforts. And so they send for the Teacher.

And Jesus, hearing this request from those who loved Him, those who served Him, those who were believers . . . fails to act. He instead deliberately does nothing and instead allows Lazarus, His friend, to die. Jesus purposefully creates a situation in which the sisters are forced to go through the circumstance of watching their brother die, of mourning and burying him, of facing the very real possibility that they could lose their home and everything in it.

Why?

Because Jesus was more concerned about obeying God than doing anything else. "Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer" (Luke 5:16 NLT). Jesus didn't do anything without consulting the Father, without asking what He should do in that situation.

And it was through this absolute obedience that one of the greatest stories of the gospels culminated . . . Lazarus being resurrected from the dead.

Paul tells us "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:13-14 RSV). The entire Christian faith hinges upon the truth of the resurrection. And not only the resurrection of Christ (which destroyed death), but of our resurrection as well. The Lord Jesus needed to demonstrate His total authority and power over death—"The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:26 RSV)—in order to show Himself as truly God's Savior to the world. For what is it we need to be saved from except death? All other things we can overcome; death is our true master . . . or was, until Christ.

However, the stronger point in all of this is Jesus' obedience to God, the idea that obeying God may go outside of our common sense, of our understanding of what is helpful. Father God had a stronger purpose in this story than relieving Mary's and Martha's suffering (of mourning). And sometimes, we may expect our brothers and sisters in Christ to react a certain way and be disappointed when they don't. Yes, they may be reacting in sin . . . or they may be reacting in obedience. Ours isn't to become judge and jury, but rather to seek the Father and allow Him to sort it all out.

Mary and Martha didn't turn against the Lord Jesus because He allowed Lazarus to die (and them to suffer). But rather they continued to believe in Him, to trust Him, to follow Him. In the midst of the turmoil, the pain, the conflict, aren't we better off to continue to cling to the Lord, trusting Him through the darkness? His light is always at the end of every tunnel.

Copyright 2008 by Robin L. O'Hare. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission. Permission to reproduce will be given by author by contacting servinggodalone @ yahoo.com. All copies must be reproduced in their entirety and distributed without cost.