The details surrounding death may vary, but the reality is universal. Scenes like Lazarus’s funeral in Bethany are repeated many times around the world each day. A grieving family gathers at a graveside. Friends agonize over what to say. Their helpless silence, downcast eyes, and shuffling feet provide more distraction than comfort. When death is unexpected, the why’s hang in the air like a choking fog.
Drawn by grief and duty, people came from Jerusalem and the surrounding area to pay their last respects to a citizen of Bethany. Jesus’ friend Lazarus was dead. His brief sickness proved stronger than any available medicine. Jesus had been sent for but did not arrive at the expected time. Death did not wait. Following the wisdom of hot countries, the body was soon wrapped and buried. Four days later, Jesus arrived.
Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha reacted in shock. Grief stricken, they struggled to understand why Jesus had delayed in coming. We have no idea how Lazarus reacted to his own death. In fact, we don’t have a record of a single word he said. We do know that he listened to Jesus. Even when the curtain of death was between them, Lazarus responded to Jesus’ voice. He came hobbling out of his cave-tomb, still wrapped in grave clothes. Jesus raised him from the dead!
When all is said and done, only what God accomplished through us will really matter. We will take little credit. Jesus worked in and around Lazarus just as He does with us. We have Christ’s invitation to participate in His work., but we must not forget that He will do much more than we will know. Meanwhile, we delight in what Jesus does with the little we have to offer Him.
This week in our Wednesday Evening Bible Study we will begin to look at the resurrection of Lazarus and the events recorded in John 11:1-44.