Lent Devotionals – Day 20

John 11 : 1 – 27:

John 11 is connected by three elements that John really wants us to pay attention to: love, death and glory.

“I’m talking about love here, I’m going to show you love here.”

This is what, in essence, Jesus was saying to his disciples at the time when news was sent that Lazarus was ill; when He was in the thick of the situation with Lazarus’s eventual death; and it’s what He is saying to us now when we read this passage about what took place in those few days.

We need to place ourselves within the chapter’s context in order to really grasp what the story looks like up to now. John is relentless in underlining the deep love that existed between Jesus, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. So for the two sisters, it is obvious that when Lazarus fell seriously ill, Jesus had to be sent word of it.

But at this point, Jesus and his disciples had left Jerusalem because the Jews had attempted to kill them. Going back was not an option for the disciples if they wanted to stay alive. So hearing the news that Lazarus was sick rang alarm bells for some of them, like Thomas.

So we are presented with a tragic situation. Martha and Mary are pining for the return of Jesus to their side, and the disciples are wary that this could lead to something more destructive. It’s at this point, however, that Jesus tells His disciples that Lazarus has died, something Jesus knew was going to happen and had allowed to happen by waiting a few days where He was. And yet it is here that John is calling for us to really grab hold of the fact that this story is not simply about death, this is about love.

Verses 5-6 are crucial now. It says that Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus so He stayed where He was for 2 more days. How is that love? Surely love would be to immediately run to Lazarus, heal him before he dies? But no, Jesus, because He loved them…waited.

To the world this seems barmy, this is upside down. But surely we’re only concerned with what the Bible says about love, since it is the truth. Jesus here is saying that in Lazarus’s dying He and His Father will be glorified as being more mighty, more powerful, more supreme than death itself. This is what love is, doing what is necessary to reveal to creation how stunning God is, and to unite them to Him.

This is spelled out clearly when Jesus turns to His disciples and tells them in verses 14-15 how for their sake He is glad that He was not there when Lazarus was ill. The Greek root used here for ‘glad’ is the word ‘chairO’ meaning He ‘rejoiced’. His joy was due to the knowledge that the disciples would be brought to a deeper understanding of the sovereignty of God.

We read these verses then, not as Jesus acting in a neglectful or distant manner, but wholly in control of situations. He was totally aligned with the Father’s perspective. It was all for the glory of the Father and the Son so that people may believe. It means that in our difficult situations and times of despair, God wants to reveal a more profound sense of His love than ever before. Tomorrow we will look at the miracle itself since this did not end in death, but resurrection.