On Line Bible Study - For the week July 16-22, 2012
Lesson 545
John 11:1-44
The story we are considering today is the raising of Lazarus. To recap - Lazarus, one who 'Jesus loved', became ill. His sisters, Mary and Martha (who Jesus also loved), sent word to Jesus. Jesus remained where he was for two more days, then declared that Lazarus had 'fallen asleep'. This led the disciples to believe Lazarus would get better; Jesus then told them explicitly: Lazarus is dead. By the time Jesus gets to the family, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus encounters the sisters on the road - first Martha, then Mary. They chastise Jesus for not having come sooner, assuming that he could have healed their brother. Jesus, claiming to be "the resurrection and the life', goes to the tomb and calls Lazarus forth.
This is the last of Jesus' 'signs'. Recalling his 'first sign' (John 2:1-11), Jesus' mother imposed upon him to do something when the wine ran out at a wedding. Jesus resisted, saying: My hour has not yet come. In like manner, Jesus did not jump up and go when first invited. Jesus doesn't jump at our beck and call. He responds to the will of his father.
The sixth of Jesus' signs is in John 9 - the healing of the blind man. Jesus' disciples wonder how it was that this man had been born blind - had he sinned, or his parents? Jesus explained to them that the man's condition was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. (Verse 3.) In like manner in the situation with Lazarus, Christ explains: This sickness ... is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified. (John 11:4.) Jesus' time frame for ministry is not concerned with doing what seems to be expedient, but on revealing the glory of God.
This is the most dramatic of the signs Jesus performs in John's Gospel. He does physically for Lazarus what he does spiritually for us all - he gives life. John uses this story - and it is found only in John - such that it generates two extreme reactions - profound faith, or deep fear. We will explore these in the next study. For now, we see how the evangelist tells us a series of stories with each one becoming more intense, more spectacular.
If you read the story of the raising of Lazarus in its entirety, you will see that "glory" is at the beginning and the end; it is both the motivation for and the culmination of Jesus' ministry.
In John 11:39, Jesus commands the people: Take away the stone. In so doing they lay bare the grave. Several verses later, with Lazarus having been called forth, Jesus commands: Take off the grave clothes and let him go. It is almost as if we have to step out of our doubt and step into faith - we do this first, and then we find we are truly set free. It is difficult to see the light if one insists on staying in the tomb.
John 11:1-44
The story we are considering today is the raising of Lazarus. To recap - Lazarus, one who 'Jesus loved', became ill. His sisters, Mary and Martha (who Jesus also loved), sent word to Jesus. Jesus remained where he was for two more days, then declared that Lazarus had 'fallen asleep'. This led the disciples to believe Lazarus would get better; Jesus then told them explicitly: Lazarus is dead. By the time Jesus gets to the family, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus encounters the sisters on the road - first Martha, then Mary. They chastise Jesus for not having come sooner, assuming that he could have healed their brother. Jesus, claiming to be "the resurrection and the life', goes to the tomb and calls Lazarus forth.
This is the last of Jesus' 'signs'. Recalling his 'first sign' (John 2:1-11), Jesus' mother imposed upon him to do something when the wine ran out at a wedding. Jesus resisted, saying: My hour has not yet come. In like manner, Jesus did not jump up and go when first invited. Jesus doesn't jump at our beck and call. He responds to the will of his father.
The sixth of Jesus' signs is in John 9 - the healing of the blind man. Jesus' disciples wonder how it was that this man had been born blind - had he sinned, or his parents? Jesus explained to them that the man's condition was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. (Verse 3.) In like manner in the situation with Lazarus, Christ explains: This sickness ... is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified. (John 11:4.) Jesus' time frame for ministry is not concerned with doing what seems to be expedient, but on revealing the glory of God.
This is the most dramatic of the signs Jesus performs in John's Gospel. He does physically for Lazarus what he does spiritually for us all - he gives life. John uses this story - and it is found only in John - such that it generates two extreme reactions - profound faith, or deep fear. We will explore these in the next study. For now, we see how the evangelist tells us a series of stories with each one becoming more intense, more spectacular.
If you read the story of the raising of Lazarus in its entirety, you will see that "glory" is at the beginning and the end; it is both the motivation for and the culmination of Jesus' ministry.
In John 11:39, Jesus commands the people: Take away the stone. In so doing they lay bare the grave. Several verses later, with Lazarus having been called forth, Jesus commands: Take off the grave clothes and let him go. It is almost as if we have to step out of our doubt and step into faith - we do this first, and then we find we are truly set free. It is difficult to see the light if one insists on staying in the tomb.
posted by Mark D at 5:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home