Mary’s Lent Diary (Day 38)
I don’t believe it….I have just had more sad news. Lazarus (a friend who lives in Bethany) is ill. Really ill. We know the family well, and I just can not believe that Mary and Martha (Lazarus’ sisters) did not send for Jesus when their brother became so poorly. Mary and Martha know all about the miracles Jesus has been doing. So why did they not send for Jesus?
Oh, I have just found out something even more unbelievable than them not sending for Jesus – they did ask him to come, but he waited for two days before he went to Lazarus! Jesus knew how ill Lazarus was, so why did he delay? He loves Lazarus. It doesn’t make sense.
Then, when Jesus did decide to go, his disciples were not so sure that it was a good idea…it would mean Jesus heading back in the direction of people who wanted to kill him. Even though he had told them they were heading back to Jerusalem, I think the disciples still weren’t keen. And Bethany is only two miles from Jerusalem.
But Jesus was determined and so they all went. Apparently Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, said that they might as well go with Jesus so they could die with him. Even Jesus’ disciples are talking about his death now…
Anyway, when they all got to Bethany, it was too late. Lazarus was dead.
Martha went to meet Jesus when he arrived and told him that, if he had been here sooner, Lazarus would still be alive.
And I think I would have said the same thing had I been there!
Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again.
Then Mary came out and said the same as Martha – if Jesus had come sooner, Lazarus would not be dead.
Jesus saw Mary crying and was really moved. He asked to be shown where Lazarus had been buried, so they took him to see. When Jesus got there, he wept.
Then Jesus told the people to remove the stone that was over the entrance to the cave where Lazarus had been laid. Martha, ever practical, intervened here – there would be an awful smell, because Lazarus had been dead for four days now.
But Jesus told her that if she believed, she would see the glory of God….so Martha stopped intervening!
People removed the stone, Jesus looked up and prayed to God and then said, in a loud voice: ‘Lazarus, come out!’ Everyone watched the grave and suddenly, there was Lazarus. He walked out of there.
Wow!
Man crying
‘Jesus Wept’ (John 11:35).
The shortest verse in the Bible.
He wept when He saw Lazarus’ grave.
He wept when what should have been alive
was dead.
Death is a part of life.
We have ‘a time to be born and a time to die’
Ecclesiastes 3:2
But now was not Lazarus’ time.
We know that, because Jesus brought him back to life.
But first, Jesus wept.
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10b
What about us?
Do we have dead places?
Places where things are not as they are meant to be?
And what about our world?
All around us, we see things happening that are not as God meant them to be.
Could you pray specifically for a situation in the news today?
Dead places bring tears.
Jesus shares those tears.
He cries them with us.
They matter to him.
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
Psalm 56:8
The sisters couldn’t understand why Jesus delayed in coming.
Yet, if He hadn’t, they’d have missed something bigger.
Had Jesus come sooner, they may have seen a healing.
As it was, they saw death turn to life.
They saw the Hope that Jesus brings.
Martha heard the words:
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”
John 11:25
When God seems to delay in answering our prayers,
let’s not stop praying,
and let’s not stop trusting.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Jesus asked people to move the stone that was covering the grave.
Martha worries about the practicalities.
If the stone-covering is removed from the grave, the smell will be terrible.
Moving the stone-covering is a bad idea.
Perhaps you are concerned about something.
Perhaps Jesus is asking you to do something, or be something,
and you can give Him reasons why it’s a bad idea.
Martha was told that, if she believed, she would see the glory of God.
Martha cast aside her doubts,
chose to believe,
and she saw life.
Believe.
What might you see?
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Where will you see His glory today?
See His brilliance?
Creation is a good place to start…..
Lord Jesus,
Thank You for weeping with me.
My tears matter to You.
I do believe in You.
Help me to trust You,
especially when I am impatient for answers.
Thank You for giving me life.
Amen
Mary’s Memo Believe
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