Daily Lesson for Thursday 10th of October 2024
John 11:1-57 is filled with sadness—the sad news of a dear friend’s illness (John 11:1-3); the weeping over his death (John 11:19,31,33); the sisters’ lament that Lazarus would not have died if Jesus had been present (John 11:21,32); and Jesus’ own tears (John 11:35).
But Jesus had delayed two days before starting His journey to Lazarus (John 11:6), even indicating that He was glad that He had not gone earlier (John 11:14-15). This action was not from any cold-heartedness. Rather, it was to reveal God’s glory.
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By the time we get to John 11:17-27, Lazarus had been dead four days. After four days, his body would already be rotting and, as Martha said , “ ‘Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days’ ” (John 11:39, NKJV). No doubt, Jesus’ delay only helped to make the miracle that followed even more astonishing. To raise a rotting corpse? What more proof could Jesus have given that indeed He was God Himself?
And, as God, as the One who created life to begin with—Jesus had power over death. Thus, Jesus uses this opportunity, that of Lazarus’s death, to reveal a crucial truth about Himself. “ ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die’ ” (John 11:25-26, ESV).
Read John 11:38-44. What did Jesus do that supported His claim?
Just as Jesus showed He is the Light of the world (John 8:12, John 9:5) by giving the blind man sight (John 9:7), so here He raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44), demonstrating that He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).
This miracle, more than any other, points to Jesus as the Life-Giver, as God Himself. It provides strong support for John’s theme that Jesus is the divine Son of God and that, by believing, we can have life through Him (John 20:30-31).
However, by the time we get to the end of this incredible story (John 11:45-54), in which many who saw believed (John 11:45), a powerful but sad irony unfolds. Jesus shows that He can bring the dead back to life, and yet, these men think that they can stop Him by killing Him? What an example of the foibles of humanity in contrast to the wisdom and power of God!
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-02-the-resurrection-of-lazarus/
