Reflective Bible Study

In our last episode, we started looking at the event where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. In that episode, we focused in on what happened when Jesus learned that Lazarus was sick and how Jesus promised that His sickness would not end in death, but that God and His Son would be glorified through this event. However, Jesus stayed where He was for two more days, before announcing to the disciples that Lazarus had died, and that it was now time to travel to Bethany.

While I don’t know how far of a journey it is between where Jesus was at and Bethany where Lazarus was sick, from the way this event is framed, Jesus likely would have not made it in time since He waited two days before beginning to travel to Bethany. And as we will soon see, when Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for more than two days.

Let’s read what happened and discover some things we can learn from the amazing miracle that was about to take place. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 11, and we will read it using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 16, John tells us that:

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ (Bethany was near Jerusalem, not quite two miles away.) ¹⁹ Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha told Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask him.”

²³ Jesus told Martha, “Your brother will come back to life.”

²⁴ Martha answered Jesus, “I know that he’ll come back to life on the last day, when everyone will come back to life.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself. Those who believe in me will live even if they die. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”

²⁷ Martha said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was expected to come into the world.”

²⁸ After Martha had said this, she went back home and whispered to her sister Mary, “The teacher is here, and he is calling for you.”

²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. ³⁰ (Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still where Martha had met him.) ³¹ The Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave. So they followed her. They thought that she was going to the tomb to cry. ³² When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who were crying with her, he was deeply moved and troubled.

Let’s pause briefly here, because I want to draw out an interesting contrast. From how John frames each sister’s discussion with Jesus, we might conclude that Mary was about to have the same discussion with Jesus that Martha had. However, a detail is present at the beginning of Mary’s conversation that is not present in Martha’s. From how John frame’s Mary’s arrival to Jesus, we get the picture that Mary was very emotional, upset, and in tears – and not just Mary, but the group of mourners with her.

In a way, while Jesus’ earlier visit to Bethany paints Martha in a negative light for being upset with Mary for wanting to sit listening to Jesus rather than help her sister, this event reverses these sisters’ roles. While Mary appears to be too emotional for a conversation to take place, Martha had moved passed her emotions to understand that it was possible Jesus spoke from a bigger perspective. Martha began with the same declaration as Mary, but Martha added a key idea in verse 22: “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask him.”

Martha’s declaration about Jesus implies a powerful faith in Jesus, and in Jesus’ resurrecting ability, even if Martha has accepted the possible truth that Lazarus won’t live again during their lifetimes, but will be raised up on the last day. Martha has moved past being blinded emotionally, while Mary is still deep in sorrow, unable to have much of a rational conversation.

Let’s continue reading. Rereading verse 33 and continuing forward:

³³ When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who were crying with her, he was deeply moved and troubled.

³⁴ So Jesus asked, “Where did you put Lazarus?”

They answered him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵ Jesus cried. ³⁶ The Jews said, “See how much Jesus loved him.” ³⁷ But some of the Jews asked, “Couldn’t this man who gave a blind man sight keep Lazarus from dying?”

Pausing again, I am amazed at the focus of most everyone in this event. Martha, Mary, and the Jews who were present all were focusing on the detail that Jesus had come too late. All of Jesus’ earlier resurrecting miracles happened much closer to the time of death. In Lazarus’ case, they had already had a funeral, and had buried him. The other resurrection miracles had happened within hours, or perhaps a day of the death. In contrast, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days, which meant that he likely had died four or maybe even five days before Jesus’ arrival.

All the focus in this event was directed towards Jesus not being able to keep Lazarus from dying, and I suspect this is what bothered Jesus. Continuing in verse 38:

³⁸ Deeply moved again, Jesus went to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone covering the entrance. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take the stone away.”

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Jesus, “Lord, there must already be a stench. He’s been dead for four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see God’s glory?” ⁴¹ So the stone was moved away from the entrance of the tomb.

Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. ⁴² I’ve known that you always hear me. However, I’ve said this so that the crowd standing around me will believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ After Jesus had said this, he shouted as loudly as he could, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴ The dead man came out. Strips of cloth were wound around his feet and hands, and his face was wrapped with a handkerchief. Jesus told them, “Free Lazarus, and let him go.”

In this event, one powerful truth we discover is within Jesus’ seemingly unnecessary prayer. This prayer both sounds unnecessary, but when compared with Jesus’ words to Martha in verse 25, it really seems unnecessary. In Jesus’ conversation with Martha, in verse 25, Jesus tells Martha, “I am the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself.”

Then when we read Jesus’ prayer in verses 41 and 42, Jesus prayed, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I’ve known that you always hear me. However, I’ve said this so that the crowd standing around me will believe that you sent me.” It’s amazing in my mind that nothing in Jesus’ prayer even hints at God raising Lazarus back to life. Looking at Jesus’ words to Martha, and at what is not included in Jesus’ prayer, we must conclude that Jesus used His divinity to raise Lazarus to life.

However, it is also worth noting that if God the Father had not wanted this miracle to happen, there would have been no way for Jesus to have done it. In the seemingly unnecessary prayer, we find a different focus. Instead of focusing on God raising Lazarus from the dead, which is what we might expect to see included in this prayer, we discover Jesus emphasized His connection with the Father, and set the stage for this miracle to emphasize this connection as the basis for our belief in Him.

While throughout this entire event, including the verses we looked at in our last episode, we discover from the very beginning Jesus wanted this event to bring God glory and give those present one more reason to place their faith in Him. While Mary, Martha, and the crowd believed Jesus was too late, the powerful truth we discover in this event is that with Jesus, God is never too late, and regardless of how long we have been in the grave, when Jesus calls to us at the end of time, we will be resurrected just like Lazarus was.

When Jesus calls, those who are dead hear His voice and return to life! For God’s people, death is nothing more than a sleep waiting for the end of sin and the final resurrection into a brand new life with God!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to place your faith, your hope, your trust, and your belief in Jesus. If death scares you, know it is nothing more than a sleep for those who have placed their faith in Jesus, and death is something Jesus not only resurrected Lazarus from, but something He conquered personally as well. Death is something that is not to be feared by followers of Jesus because it simply means the next thing we hear will be Jesus calling us from the grave.

Also, pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Choose to focus your studying on learning more about God and don’t take anyone else’s word for what the Bible teaches. Instead, choose to study the Bible’s truth for yourself, especially on topics as important as death to discover what the Bible teaches rather than what culture wants you to believe. You may be surprised to learn what the Bible teaches us about death and resurrection.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Immediately after Jesus sharing the illustration we looked at in our last episode, where Jesus tells us it is better for us to step down and let others honor us rather than seeking honor for ourselves, someone prompts Jesus with a statement that leads into another parable. One of the most interesting things I find when reading this event is how the statement that is made is contrasted by the behaviors that are demonstrated by characters in Jesus’ story. This discrepancy is going to be one of the main details we focus our attention on in this episode.

Our passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 14, and we will read it from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 15, Luke tells us that:

¹⁵ One of those eating with him heard this. So he said to Jesus, “The person who will be at the banquet in God’s kingdom is blessed.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to him, “A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. ¹⁷ When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is ready now.’

¹⁸ “Everyone asked to be excused. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field, and I need to see it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I bought five pairs of oxen, and I’m on my way to see how well they plow. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ Still another said, ‘I recently got married, and that’s why I can’t come.’

²¹ “The servant went back to report this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry. He told his servant, ‘Run to every street and alley in the city! Bring back the poor, the handicapped, the blind, and the lame.’

²² “The servant said, ‘Sir, what you’ve ordered has been done. But there is still room for more people.’

²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go to the roads and paths! Urge the people to come to my house. I want it to be full. ²⁴ I can guarantee that none of those invited earlier will taste any food at my banquet.’”

When reading this parable, I am always a little amazed at the attitude of those who were first invited. This is even more evident when we pay attention to the detail that Jesus does not refute the statement that someone in the group makes that launches Him into this parable.

Leading into this parable is the statement, “The person who will be at the banquet in God’s kingdom is blessed” and nowhere in this entire discussion does Jesus refute this idea.

Instead, Jesus shares a parable that describes how those who have been invited, who should have been the honored guests, all decide that the banquet isn’t worth their time. In the minds of these original invitees, there are many more important things to do. These people give up on the blessing of being in God’s kingdom when they place other priorities ahead of spending time with God.

It is amazing to realize that we can fall into a very similar trap today. Life makes it very easy to become too busy to spend time with God. While devotionals, verses of the day, and things like this can help us feel connected and spiritual, if our relationship with God does not extend beyond this, our relationship likely could be described as shallow. Instead, like a good close friendship, we should focus on spending both quality and quantities of time with God. A relationship with God cannot and should not be rushed.

Instead of rushing your relationship, why not simply take God with you wherever you go. While this sounds an awful lot like a cliché, the truth is that God is with us wherever we go, and it is to our benefit to acknowledge that He is with us at all times. Acknowledging that God is with us 24 hours a day and seven days a week might be a little daunting, but it also might make us a little more aware of what we spend our time doing. Knowing that God is with us at every moment might give us comfort when we are facing trials, but it also might make us uneasy if we know what we are spending time on is not within God’s will for us.

However, while it might be easy to look down on those who were originally invited and say they got what they deserved when they rejected the invitation, we should actually thank them. When reading this story, the impression I get is that if those who were originally invited had accepted the invitation, then the rest of the people would not have been included. It is only because of the man’s anger at those he originally invited that opened the door for anyone and everyone else to be included.

Some people might look at this parable and say this is a subtle challenge to the Jews in the first century for their rejection of Jesus. This could be the case. However, have you ever thought that if those Jews had not rejected Jesus, it’s possible that you wouldn’t have received an invitation.

However, while we may be tempted to look down on the first-century Jews for rejecting their invitation, or be outright hostile towards them for how they treated Jesus while He was alive on earth, we are just as capable of rejecting God’s invitation as they were. When we let things crowd God out of our lives, and when we cease acknowledging His presence with us, we then risk growing apart from Him. When we grow apart from God, we are likely to minimize the significance of His invitation as well.

We should be happy and grateful that those who were first invited rejected the invitation. Because they chose to do this, the barrier for being invited dropped to zero. We see through this parable that anyone and everyone, regardless of their past, present, or future is invited. This also means that while everyone is invited and encouraged to accept the invitation, there are many more opportunities for people to reject the invitation.

Don’t be someone who rejects the invitation to God’s banquet. Like the unknown person commented to Jesus, “The person who will be at the banquet in God’s kingdom is blessed”. Choose to accept God’s banquet invitation, and let His Holy Spirit bless you both in our present world and life as we look forward to this banquet, and when we are called home to heaven to experience this banquet first hand!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always begin by challenging you, continue to seek God first in your life. Value the invitation He has given to you and choose to keep your connection with Him strong.

Also, in order to keep your connection and relationship with God strong, be sure to pray and study your Bible for yourself regularly and take God with you throughout your days with whatever you face. Don’t let busyness or worry distract you or pull you away from God. Instead, let your time with Him empower you to be more of the person He created you to be.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!