{"id":401,"date":"2024-12-18T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=401&2024"},"modified":"2024-12-16T17:01:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T00:01:08","slug":"the-pause-button-john-11-1-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-pause-button-john-11-1-44\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pause Button: John 11:1-44"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: John 11:1-44 (CEV)<\/div>
\r\n

1-2\u00a0<\/sup>A man by the name of Lazarus was sick in the village of Bethany. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha. This was the same Mary who later poured perfume on the Lord\u2019s head and wiped his feet with her hair. 3\u00a0<\/sup>The sisters sent a message to the Lord and told him that his good friend Lazarus was sick.<\/p>

4\u00a0<\/sup>When Jesus heard this, he said, \u201cHis sickness won\u2019t end in death. It will bring glory to God and his Son.\u201d<\/p>

5\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus loved Martha and her sister and brother. 6\u00a0<\/sup>But he stayed where he was for two more days. 7\u00a0<\/sup>Then he said to his disciples, \u201cNow we will go back to Judea.\u201d<\/p>

8\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cTeacher,\u201d they said, \u201cthe people there want to stone you to death! Why do you want to go back?\u201d<\/p>

9\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus answered, \u201cAren\u2019t there twelve hours in each day? If you walk during the day, you will have light from the sun, and you won\u2019t stumble. 10\u00a0<\/sup>But if you walk during the night, you will stumble, because you don\u2019t have any light.\u201d 11\u00a0<\/sup>Then he told them, \u201cOur friend Lazarus is asleep, and I am going there to wake him up.\u201d<\/p>

12\u00a0<\/sup>They replied, \u201cLord, if he is asleep, he will get better.\u201d 13\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus really meant that Lazarus was dead, but they thought he was talking only about sleep.<\/p>

14\u00a0<\/sup>Then Jesus told them plainly, \u201cLazarus is dead! 15\u00a0<\/sup>I am glad that I wasn\u2019t there, because now you will have a chance to put your faith in me. Let\u2019s go to him.\u201d<\/p>

16\u00a0<\/sup>Thomas, whose nickname was \u201cTwin,\u201d said to the other disciples, \u201cCome on. Let\u2019s go, so we can die with him.\u201d<\/p>

17\u00a0<\/sup>When Jesus got to Bethany, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18\u00a0<\/sup>Bethany was only about two miles from Jerusalem, 19\u00a0<\/sup>and many people had come from the city to comfort Martha and Mary because their brother had died.<\/p>

20\u00a0<\/sup>When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21\u00a0<\/sup>Martha said to Jesus, \u201cLord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22\u00a0<\/sup>Yet even now I know that God will do anything you ask.\u201d<\/p>

23\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus told her, \u201cYour brother will live again!\u201d<\/p>

24\u00a0<\/sup>Martha answered, \u201cI know that he will be raised to life on the last day, when all the dead are raised.\u201d<\/p>

25\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus then said, \u201cI am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. 26\u00a0<\/sup>And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die. Do you believe this?\u201d<\/p>

27\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYes, Lord!\u201d she replied. \u201cI believe that you are Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.\u201d<\/p>

28\u00a0<\/sup>After Martha said this, she went and privately said to her sister Mary, \u201cThe Teacher is here, and he wants to see you.\u201d 29\u00a0<\/sup>As soon as Mary heard this, she got up and went out to Jesus. 30\u00a0<\/sup>He was still outside the village where Martha had gone to meet him. 31\u00a0<\/sup>Many people had come to comfort Mary, and when they saw her quickly leave the house, they thought she was going out to the tomb to cry. So they followed her.<\/p>

32\u00a0<\/sup>Mary went to where Jesus was. Then as soon as she saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, \u201cLord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.\u201d<\/p>

33\u00a0<\/sup>When Jesus saw that Mary and the people with her were crying, he was terribly upset 34\u00a0<\/sup>and asked, \u201cWhere have you put his body?\u201d<\/p>

They replied, \u201cLord, come and you will see.\u201d<\/p>

35\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus started crying, 36\u00a0<\/sup>and the people said, \u201cSee how much he loved Lazarus.\u201d<\/p>

37\u00a0<\/sup>Some of them said, \u201cHe gives sight to the blind. Why couldn\u2019t he have kept Lazarus from dying?\u201d<\/p>

38\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus was still terribly upset. So he went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone rolled against the entrance. 39\u00a0<\/sup>Then he told the people to roll the stone away. But Martha said, \u201cLord, you know that Lazarus has been dead four days, and there will be a bad smell.\u201d<\/p>

40\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus replied, \u201cDidn\u2019t I tell you that if you had faith, you would see the glory of God?\u201d<\/p>

41\u00a0<\/sup>After the stone had been rolled aside, Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, \u201cFather, I thank you for answering my prayer. 42\u00a0<\/sup>I know that you always answer my prayers. But I said this, so that the people here would believe that you sent me.\u201d<\/p>

43\u00a0<\/sup>When Jesus had finished praying, he shouted, \u201cLazarus, come out!\u201d 44\u00a0<\/sup>The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of burial cloth, and a cloth covered his face.<\/p>

Jesus then told the people, \u201cUntie him and let him go.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Read John 11:1-44<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

Most times I read about Jesus raising Lazarus back to life, I am fascinated at many of the details that are included. However more than just simply looking at the details, I enjoy looking behind these details to themes that tell me more about what God and Jesus are like.<\/p>\r\n

The big idea that challenges me as I read this event directly relates to who Jesus is: Jesus is a Life-Giver. <\/strong>All throughout the gospels, Jesus heals people, restoring them into a new life; He teaches people, helping them begin a new life and relationship with God; and He was trying really hard to train some difficult people (known as the disciples) how to live dependant on God \u2013 which was a new life compared with the life they left behind after accepting His call.<\/p>\r\n

Jesus is a life-giver, and because of this, He is not afraid of death. Jesus first describes Lazarus as sleeping, which may give us a clue into what He wanted us to think of death. Verse 11 shares this initial description: \u201cOur friend Lazarus is asleep, and I am going there to wake him up.\u201d<\/strong> However, like what usually seemed to happen, the disciples don\u2019t get what Jesus is trying to say, leading Jesus to talk directly to them a few verses later with the fact that \u201cLazarus is dead!\u201d<\/strong> (Verse 14)<\/p>\r\n

One thing that challenges me is in this event has to do with how Jesus responds to the news that Lazarus is sick. In verse 4, Jesus responds to the news by saying \u201cHis sickness won\u2019t end in death. It will bring glory to God and his Son.\u201d<\/strong> Verse 4 and verse 14 contradict one another, because Jesus said the sickness wouldn\u2019t end in death, but then Lazarus died.<\/p>\r\n

But when we look at what Jesus says, from the perspective He is trying to teach the disciples to grasp, we see something interesting.<\/p>\r\n

For much of His ministry, Jesus was trying to help the disciples understand life from God\u2019s viewpoint. God\u2019s perspective on life looks at it through the lens of eternity, and knowing the whole story, or at least the portion of the story that John shares, Lazarus\u2019 sickness included death as a pit-stop or detour on the path to a new God-given life. Lazarus\u2019 sickness did not \u201cend\u201d in death, because death was not the end of His story.<\/p>\r\n

Instead, Jesus gives us another insight into God\u2019s perspective. From God\u2019s perspective, death is like a sleep. A few verses later, Jesus tells Martha, \u201cI am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die.\u201d<\/strong> (Verses 25-26)<\/p>\r\n

There are two directions we could understand Jesus\u2019 words in these verses. We could understand this to mean that those who believe in Jesus will never \u201cfall asleep\u201d like Lazarus did; or we may understand Jesus\u2019 words to mean that those who believe in Him will not have their stories end in death, even if death happens to be a temporary resting place on the path.<\/p>\r\n

Looking at the broad story and how in each conversation Jesus is trying to teach people truths from God\u2019s perspective, and that Jesus begins by pointing us to the big picture by saying that Lazarus\u2019 sickness won\u2019t end in death, I am inclined to believe that Jesus describes what we call death as a sleep. This sleep-death is not the end, but merely a pause on life that will later be resumed when the resurrection happens. Death in Jesus\u2019 eyes is when someone\u2019s future contains no more life in it while sleep in Jesus\u2019 eyes holds the promise of resurrection.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most times I read about Jesus raising Lazarus back to life, I am fascinated at many of the details that are included. However more than just simply looking at the details, I enjoy looking behind these details to themes that tell me more about what God and Jesus are like. 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