«DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?»
«I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?» (John 1 1 :25, 26).
IF WE WERE TO CONDUCT A SURVEY asking which of all the miracles recorded in the Bible is the most impressive, certainly Lazarus’s resurrection would take first place. Yes, the crossing of the Red Sea and the multiplication of the loaves and fish were also impressive miracles. But to bring back to life someone who had been dead for four days?
Now, besides being impressive, would we say it’s also a relevant miracle? For it is one thing for an act to cause wonder or admiration; but a very different thing for it to be important today. How important might it be for a twenty-first-century person that Lazarus was resurrected in a village called Bethany about two thousand years ago?
The answer is found in today’s text, and in the events that preceded it; specifically in the words that Martha as well as Mary spoke to Jesus when He finally arrived in Bethany, after a four-day delay: «Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died» (John 11:21; cf. verse 32). In the presence of Christ, of course,
Lazarus would not have died! But why, then, did He delay if He could still have saved him?
He delayed because Lazarus’s sickness would be «for the glory of God» (v. 4). This fact explains why, instead of rushing to heal him, Jesus «stayed two more days in the place where He was» (v. 6). And why, after Lazarus died, the Lord declared, «I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe» (w. 14, 15; emphasis added).
Do you see? «I am glad for your sakes . . . that you may believe.» The delay had a purpose. Although the death of their brother would be a harsh test to the faith of Mary and Martha, Jesus «knew that for them, for Lazarus, for Himself, and for His disciples, a victory was to be gained.»—The Desire of Ages, ch. 58, p. 528. A victory that would also give the priests «another evidence that He was indeed ‘the resurrection, and the life’ p. 529.
What we are saying is that, in resurrecting Lazarus, Jesus gave us «a pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. «—Ibid., p. 530; the security that He is the Author of life, and that everyone who believes in Him, «though he may die, he shall live.»
Is this relevant today? Of course it is, because when Jesus said, «He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live,» He was also thinking of you and me! Do you believe this?
Dear Jesus, I believe that You are the resurrection and the life; and that, by the power of Your word, I will not die for eternity. What can I say, Lord, to thank You? I really don’t have the words.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2022
“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”
From: FERNANDO ZABALA
Collaborators:Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate