A few weeks ago the Sunday meeting was on the topic of Lazarus, and on Jesus' response to hearing that his friend had recently fallen ill. I've blogged on this before, however never from this particular angle. Just listen to this:
John 11: 1-7 (NIV)
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
Now, it seems to me that Jesus didn't do the thing that any nice person would have done. He did not drop everything to rush back to his friends to see if he could help. When he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed exactly where he was for two more days. The nice thing to do would be to come back to support the sisters. He didn't. Not straight away.
Why? Exactly the same question that the sisters asked Jesus when they eventually saw him. This is the part which challenges me at the moment; why did Jesus act in this way? What is this detail teaching me?
To break this down further, the message from Martha and Mary was coming from Bethany, some two miles from Jerusalem. Jesus was in Bethabara, just across the Jordan River, about 20 to 25 miles (32 to 40 kms) away. This was approximately two days away by foot; involving a steep descent and climb across desert terrain and the Jordan Valley. It also wasn't safe to travel by night. So the message probably took a full two days to reach Jesus.
Jesus then waited a further two days; then he started to travel back. From the moment that the sisters called for Jesus a likely period of six days had elapsed before Jesus returns to Bethany, by which time it would be too late. This intentional delay meant Lazarus was already dead by the time Jesus arrived - which, with hindsight, we now know set the stage for a greater miracle.
Jesus was not uncaring - he showed his feelings by crying with the grieving family, giving us the famous short verse "Jesus wept" before he raised Lazarus from the tomb. However, he acted with deliberate purpose to stay away - a decision that confuses his friends.
By the time Jesus arrived in Bethany, there was absolutely no doubt that Lazarus was dead. In fact, scripture records that he arrives four days after Lazarus was buried and in his tomb. Even if he had left immediately that he had got the news, it would still be after Lazarus died.
Remember - Jesus wasn’t denying Mary and Martha when he waited those two additional days. He had a different agenda. Jesus was preparing them for something far better than they could have ever imagined.
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