Yesterday I preached on the story of the father with the demon possessed son in Mark 9:14ff — “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (v. 24). Today I read a similar account of the death of Lazarus (Jn. 11) — a story that on the surface seems to be “faith crushing.” Yet our wise Savior designs that event to be faith-inducing.
Note the emphasis on faith in the story —
- Jesus tells the Twelve that He is glad that He was not present for Lazarus’ death so that they would believe (v. 15)
- Jesus tells Martha that because He is the resurrection and the life, all who believe in Him will live — even when they die. And then He asks her if she believes (vv. 25-26)
- Unlike the father in Mk. 9, Martha simply responds, “Yes, Lord; I have believed…” (v. 27)
- In a statement that ties the chapter together, Jesus says to Martha (at the tomb), “did I not say to you that if you believe that you will see the glory of God?” (v. 40). This is the theme verse of the chapter (akin also to the theme of the story of the man born blind, 9:3).
- When Jesus prays prior to resuscitating Lazarus, He affirms the intent of this miracle — to stimulate belief in the Father, the Sender of the Messiah (v. 42).
- In response to the miracle, many people came and believed (v. 45) — though notably there is no specific statement of the increasing faith of the Twelve, though that can easily be inferred.
- While they did not believe, the Pharisees recognized the import of the miracle and the significance of the many who believed in Christ as a result of this work (v. 48).
So much belief — the belief of the Twelve, of Martha and Mary, of Lazarus (cf. 12:10-11), of the crowds. And all this belief is provoked by an event that seemed catastrophic and “wrong” — the death of Lazarus.
And not only was Christ’s delay an act designed to stimulate faith; it was also an act of love — the sisters recognized that Jesus loved Lazarus (v. 3), Jesus said He loved the sisters and Lazarus (v. 5), and the crowds recognized His love for His friend, Lazarus (v. 36). His delay in responding to the request of the sisters and the subsequent death of Lazarus might have seemed harsh and unloving. But the participants didn’t have the full story — they needed to wait to the end to see the fullness of His actions and love.
And there is another reminder for us — when in the midst of storms and trials, don’t assume the hardness of the day is a withholding of God’s love. He has not yet revealed all to us; He is good and (only) does good. When all is unfolded we will see His love and care behind our hard circumstances.
This story teaches us that we cannot evaluate all the events of our lives in a superficial manner; whatever the events of my life are, they are only providing the circumstances for what God is doing in my heart. So what is the trial for you today? What is the burden? What is the struggle? Who is your enemy (real or imagined)? Every event and weight of our lives are the circumstances that God has graciously and lovingly intended to feed our faith in Christ and our longing to serve Him.
So take heart. Be courageous. Hold onto what is good, my friend. The troubles of this life are in His sovereign care (like Lazarus’ death, He could have intervened to change them but chose not to do so for His wise purposes); His goal in our troubles is that we will believe and trust in Him more today.
“Iceland Republic – Lava Hard Bedrock – View from our Trail Hike” by Onasill ~ Bill is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Words of Grace 