John 11:17-44
Be Still: Lord, meet me now and throughout this coming day. Amen
Read: John 11:17-44
Jesus said to her (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. Do you believe this?’.... When he saw her (Mary) weeping….he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.... Jesus wept...... Jesus said to her (Martha) ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God. He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus come out’.... Jesus said to them ‘Unbind him and let him go’ (25 - 44).
Encounter: Perpetuity
We see Jesus’ compassion - he wept when he saw his friends' pain (and knowing their pain was greater because he hadn’t come earlier). It is clear from scripture that God/Jesus is full of compassion (‘but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you’ - Isaiah 54:8) and sees and understands our pain. He is never oblivious or hardened to our suffering. We can be assured he has complete empathy with us - he knows what it is to suffer.
When we read the whole story, we see that Jesus had deliberately decided to delay and not intervene earlier in Lazarus’ illness. Jesus explained, ‘It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it’. (4:11) Sometimes what God does or doesn’t do baffles us. This is important, as we all may experience a significant life event, when we ask God to act in a particular way (and he doesn’t) or when God allows something to happen that we don’t understand. We may not understand, but we need to continue to believe that God is good and knows what he is doing.
‘I am the resurrection and the life.' Jesus does more than raise people from the dead. He IS the resurrection and the life. When we receive him, we receive his life within us that will never die. This is why the statement follows that ‘though he die, yet shall he live’ and that ‘he shall never die’. We will all die bodily and physically but we have a deeper life, a spiritual life, which cannot be ended and will go on forever.
Apply: Let’s go from this Easter week with renewed confidence and great rejoicing in our ongoing journey, recognising and displaying his life in all we say and do. And ‘if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:25).
Devote: Thank you, Lord, that you have not only given me new life but you are my life. Help me to keep in close step with your Spirit today and every day.