He Stayed

May 21

I Samuel 16-17

Psalm 63:6-11

Proverbs 14:8-10

John 11

He Stayed

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days in the place where He was….Martha then said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’”  John 11: 5-6,21-22 LSB

John tells us in verse 5 that Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and then when He heard that His friend, Lazarus, was sick, He stayed where He was for 2 more days.  When I hear that someone I love is sick, I drop everything and rush to their side to help them or at the very least I immediately text or call them to see if there is anything I can do for them. Jesus was not indifferent to their pain and suffering.  He didn’t have something else He was doing that was more important.  This was a very intentional, deliberate action on Jesus part.  There was a purpose.  In Biblical times, medical technology was not very advanced.  There weren’t machines that could measure heartbeats and brain activity.  It was sometimes difficult to determine if someone was actually dead or if they had slipped into a coma.  If there was any question, it was presumed that after 3 days they were not going to wake up because they were dead.  Lazarus’ death happened just a few days before Jesus was crucified.  Jesus knew His time was short and He still had a few more things He needed to teach His disciples and other followers.  He wanted them to understand and believe that He had power over death so that when He was crucified they would believe that He could be raised as well.  Raising Lazarus from the dead was an important part of His plan.  He didn’t want to leave any room for doubt that Lazarus was dead when He raised him so that people would not be able to claim that he had just been in a coma.  Waiting 2 days after He heard of Lazarus’ illness would mean that he had been in the tomb 4 days when Jesus arrived in Bethany.  This was plenty of time to establish that he was indeed dead. 

Not going to the sister’s side must have been painful for Jesus.  Vs. 35 tells us, “Jesus wept.”  He wasn’t grieving because His friend had died.  He knew that He was about to raise Him from the dead.  He wept because it saddened Him that He had caused pain to Martha and Mary.  He loved them and saw their grief.  It was necessary to accomplish His plan, but it still made Him sad.  They couldn’t understand why it took Him so long to come.  He may also have wept because He knew that in just 6 days, they were going to experience the heartache of His crucifixion and death.  Even though it was necessary, it was going to be painful and would cause them fear and confusion.  John 11 gives us a clear picture of the compassion and love of Jesus.  He had a plan and He was going to carry it out, but He also recognized that it was going to be hard for those who loved Him.  He had tried to prepare them for what was coming, but they didn’t understand.  We cannot always see and understand what God is doing in our lives, but we can be confident that He has a plan and our pain is not lost on Him.  We can trust His love and compassion.