One of my favorite accounts of Jesus’ miracles in the gospels is John’s account of raising Lazarus from the dead. It grabs our attention because death is death, and no human can defeat it. When Jesus raises a man from the dead we marvel at the impossible and grasp the true hope that Christ really can defeat death and give eternal life. Besides the life-giving power of the Messiah, we also see Jesus in complete sovereign control of the whole situation without any stress or anxiety about what he is doing or where he is going. The same cannot be said for us.
In John’s account (John 11:1-16) our focus is turned toward the conversation that Jesus has with his disciples. While the glory of Christ will be magnified beyond understanding in his resurrection miracle, the disciples exemplify human frailty for us all.
We get ill and die.
This is obvious! We all know that the frailty of humanity is seen in illness and death, but while we rely on medicines and treatments, we all know that we face something in our life in this world that is ultimately incurable and will be our demise. That’s a fact of human frailty.
We are finite in power and knowledge.
In verse 4, Jesus says that Lazarus would go through this so that Jesus’ glory might be manifested. Surely the disciples could not possibly understand how Jesus would know the outcome of this situation or how he would reverse it by his power. Our lives are limited in that we live only in the present and have no real power or absolute knowledge over the future. We are finite creatures bound by time and space and cannot control it.
We are pressured by the urgent.
Jesus knew his friend was going to die. In fact, by the time Jesus arrived at the tomb in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. When Jesus found out that his friend was ill, he waited two more days before doing anything (vs. 6). When we read of this two day delay, we want to ask, “why?” We want Jesus to ride in on a galloping horse doing all he can to get there in time to stop death occurring in the first place. The reason we are pressured by the urgent is because we are subjects of our circumstances. Jesus is able to reverse the consequences of any and every circumstance whether past, present or future.
We are fearful.
The disciples were well aware that Jesus had previous troubles in Judea. The Jews wanted to stone Jesus (vs. 8), but Jesus knew it was not yet his time. Sometimes even in fear we are willing to go to our death for those we love. It seems that this may have even been the case for Thomas (vs. 16). We are so often at the mercy of others, and it can be a scary thing. Jesus only came under the brutality of men when it was his sovereign will for them to crucify him.
We see a vast difference between illness and death.
To us, even when sick, the difference between illness and death is the difference between life and death. To Jesus, death is every bit as curable as influenza. Jesus described to the disciples that he was simply going to awaken Lazarus. The disciples believed that Lazarus must still simply be sick and sleeping. Jesus had to tell the disciples that Lazarus was indeed dead. For the disciples, to go to a dead man is simply to mourn his death. The opportunity for help had passed. Jesus faces death with the omnipotence due only to God.
When we read accounts like this in the gospels, we should look both at the wonder of Christ and the frailty of humanity. When we see our frailty for what it really is, the glory of Christ shines brighter. Our hope in Christ is strengthened. Our need for Christ is heightened. Our love of Christ is intensified. Our worship of Christ is authenticated.
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