The story of the raising of Lazarus in this 11th chapter of John’s Gospel is unique in that it is one of the most detailed of all Gospel stories. The reader is made privy to emotions, thoughts, intents, histories and actions of most every character mentioned. We are spending this week unveiling a few Gospel mysteries from this blessed text.
Here’s a little snack: We spent yesterday’s Snack time unveiling the mystery behind sickness and even death. We discovered that both the Father and His Son are glorified in our times of suffering when we see these suffering times as opportunities to believe and not doubt. Today we will witness another unveiling.
Jesus was Spiritually methodical. Not cunning or simply wise… but methodical- with great Spiritual value. This unveiling begins to take shape in verse 6. We are told by the writer, “When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.” Now, something interesting to note about much of the New Testament writings is that many of its writers were writing to specific people for specific reasons. While this is not necessarily so in the Gospels, we must still yet approach the Gospels with an understanding this understanding. When we do, we begin to see that there were many assumptions made by the writers of the Bible. The greatest assumption made (in my opinion) is that the culture, customs and traditions of their day would remain until the coming again of Jesus to remove His Bride. Because of this, often little explanation is given for certain beliefs of their day.
For example, in verse 6 we are told that Jesus chose to wait in His present location 2 days after hearing of the sickness/death of His friend Lazarus. Why would He do this? We are not told directly (again, the assumption is made by the writer that the reader would understand their customs and traditions). On the surface, it makes little since for Jesus to delay His inevitable trip to see Mary, Martha and the friends of Lazarus. However, as the story unravels, the unveiling if Christ’s Spiritual methodology is scene clearly.
In verse 15 we begin to see Christ’s Spiritual methodology taking shape as He teaches His disciples. He tells them, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.” Why did He tell them that? Would they have not believed in His abilities if He performed a long-distance healing? Even some of the locals expressed this very thought in verse 37. “And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?”
In that day, there was a teaching among the Jews that while never proven, gave surviving family members of the deceased a temporary hope of perhaps seeing their loved one again. It was commonly believed that the strong, valiant prayers of the living for the dead could raise back to life those had been buried. The only stipulation being that this praying must take place within the first 3 days after death. Having this understanding of the customs and traditions of that day help us to see why Jesus delayed His departure and thus His arrival until the forth day of Lazarus’ death.
Now it makes since. Had Jesus made the 2 day journey (vs. 17), or had He chosen to heal Lazarus from His original location, upon hearing of his death, there would have been a great possibility that His miracle would have gone unnoticed due to their customs. By waiting till the fourth day to raise Lazarus from the grave, He did away with any notion that this miracle was the working of anything less than the divine working of Jesus, the Son of God. Much could be said here about our giving too much credence to our traditions; of which I will reserve for another Snack.
Again, Jesus told the listeners in verse 15, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe…” Jesus was Spiritually methodical. This came with having such a tight relationship with His Father. Jesus not only knew His surroundings, but He was wise in all His understandings. He could have allowed His great love for Lazarus and His sadness for those mourning his death to cause Him to act prematurely. But His agenda prevailed: to reveal His Father in Heaven. Oh that we would be Spiritual methodical.
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