"Now a man was sick, Lazarus, from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent a message to Him: “Lord, the one You love is sick.” When Jesus heard it, He said,
“This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
John 11:1-4 (HCSB)
I had a moment of clarity the other day. During our prayer time, the hubby said, "Lord, give us the strength to endure this trial, not only for us, but for the people who are watching our lives and need to see YOU in the midst of our trials." My mind immediately went to the story of Lazarus. Almost everyone knows that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but rarely do people contemplate why He did it.
Jesus spent time with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. This is the same Mary who anointed Jesus' feet with oil and tears and cleaned them with her hair. This is the same Martha who had the gumption to tell Jesus He needed to rebuke her sister for not helping her with the kitchen duties. Jesus knew these people intimately and they, Him as is reflected in the sisters' message to Him regarding their brother: "Lord, the one You love is sick." It is so interesting what Jesus does upon receiving that message. Nothing. He does a whole lot of....nothing. Not only does he do nothing, He waits. John tells us, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet, when he heard Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days." (John 11:5,6 NIV) By the time Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days and Martha met Him there with accusation in her heart, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Martha wasn't wrong. If Jesus had come, He could have saved Lazarus and spared his sisters the agony of their brother's death. He loved Lazarus and was able to heal, so why would He withhold that healing and allow Lazarus to die? Jesus alluded to it earlier in the chapter when He said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Then again when He prays at Lazarus' tomb, “Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent Me.” (John 11: 41, 42)
There was a greater purpose at work in Lazarus' sickness and death. Jesus allowed these things to happen in order to bring glory to Himself in the midst of what seemed to be a hopeless situation. Lazarus' death was purposeful, planned and ultimately glorifying to God.
The raising of Lazarus from the dead seems to be the end of this story and it could have been, but there would have been no real point to all that had occurred. Jesus didn't allow Lazarus to die only to raise him from the dead! Rather, John gives us the true reason for all that Jesus had allowed in John 11: 45, "Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in Him." Jesus' true purpose had come to pass and He was glorified. He had a plan all along!
In the same manner, my current trials and sufferings will ultimately lead to the glorifying of God. So much of my life I have stood by like the crowd at Lazarus' tomb skeptical that God could do anything to help my situation. I have also been in the place of Lazarus; suffering for reasons unknown to me and wondering why Jesus hasn't shown up yet to heal me of my pain and deliver me from what feels like death. I have also been the Martha, "Lord if you had been here, my situation could have been averted or altered!"
My clarity comes from recognizing that God does have a purpose in allowing these difficult situations into my life. If I remember the promises of God; that His thoughts toward me are always to prosper me, not to harm me but to give me a future and a hope and understand He is using me in a very privileged way-to glorify Him, it gives great perspective to this period of suffering.
I don't know what the future holds for my family. In my humanness, it seems very dire. How grateful I am that His love and faithfulness overwhelms my humanness and that through Him, I have access to "every spiritual blessing in the heavens". (Ephesians 1:3)
