So today, while I was reading the bible, I was so moved. I went through John 11; the story of Lazarus.
For context, his sisters told them that their brother Lazarus was dying and Jesus loves them. His reply is interesting: "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God (Jesus) may be glorified through it." Alright, at first glance, this seems comforting! Jesus has told me that my brother's illness will not lead him to death! Yay! He will recover!! right?! FAKE! after he heard this, instead of rushing to Lazarus to heal him, he stays for 2 more days where he was. Honestly, I don't know how you can do that without freaking out LOL it actually didn't seem like he HAD to stay, from what the passage says, it seems that he stayed so that Lazarus could die. Okay...think back...Jesus said that this all happened for the glory of God! At the time, when Lazarus died, it didn't really seem like a glorious time! Jesus tells his disciples that Lazarus is dead and it was all part of the plan. "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe." For OUR sake? So Lazarus' death isn't only for the glory of God, but also for the disciples sake, and for everyone around him!
Okay, so they go and Jesus finally comes to the place, and Lazarus has been dead in the tomb for 4 days already...rotting and smelling bad! people are weeping and it's sad. Jesus will full confidence in His Father's will and stuff, goes there and tells Martha "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Here, Jesus is talking about Lazarus, but I also believe that he is talking about us as well! Through Jesus, though we are dead in our sins like Lazarus was dead, we can have life if we believe in Him. Right after, he talks to Mary (the other sister) and she has a similar response "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." She was crying and same with everyone around. And check this out..."he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled...Jesus wept." Jesus was greatly troubled!! from this passage, it seems that troubled means that he was sad and loved Lazarus and his sisters! Okay, for you Christian veterans out there, ur probably like, *yawn* heard this a million times! BUT, just think more about this! Jesus is God! He is fully God and fully man! He knows what will happen with Lazarus! If anyone knew what God's will for Lazarus, it was Him!! haha! He knew with uttermost certainty that it was part of the plan. He knew that Lazarus would be raised to life! He knew that this was meant to glorify God! He knows that this is meant to help the people believe! Even though He knew all this with UTTERMOST CERTAINTY, He wept! It made me think about those times when a friend is troubled and you want to comfort them and you say "God has everything in control" or talk about the sovereignty of God like it will make them feel better. Jesus still cried! thats crazy! still kind of blows my mind! Jesus...literally the most relatable God of history! So amazing how he can fully be God and at the same time, feel everything a regular person would feel! I love watching Him do His thing!
In the end, he raised Lazarus from the dead and many people believed, and some hardened hearts went to tell the pharisees! God was glorified through this! Jesus' power was made known! People believed! in the end, everything came to fruition the way it was supposed to! But to say that if you fully trust God you won't get sad or w/e is a lie. Jesus had ultimate faith and knew what was to happen! Even He wept! I think the important thing here is to be able to press on and not get stuck in the weeping! Just wanted to point this out because I thought it was a pretty amazing thing! :)
Jireh!
