Lazarus Raised

To receive notice of each days Bible Study,
please go to my twitter page and sign up.

Lazarus Raised

John 11:38-40

38 Jesus [Iesous] therefore [oun] again [palin] groaning [embrimaomai] in [en] himself [heautou] cometh [erchomai] to [eis] the grave [mnemeion] . [de] It was [en] a cave [spelaion] , and [kai] a stone [lithos] lay [epikeimai] upon [epi] it [autos] .
39 Jesus [Iesous] said [lego] , Take ye away [airo] the stone [lithos] . Martha [Martha] , the sister [adelphe] of him that was dead [thnesko] , saith [lego] unto him [autos] , Lord [kurios] , by this time [ede] he stinketh [ozo] : for [gar] he hath been [esti] dead four days [tetartaios] .
40 Jesus [Iesous] saith [lego] unto her [autos] , Said I [epo] not [ou] unto thee [soi] , that [hoti] , if [ean] thou wouldest believe [pisteuo] , thou shouldest see [optanomai] the glory [doxa] of God [theos] ? KJV-Interlinear

38 Jesus therefore again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, 'Remove the stone.' Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, 'Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.' 40 Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?' NASB

Jesus moves toward the location of the tomb, and is obviously followed by the procession of mourners. As He approaches the tomb He is still filled with disgust and disappointment. The Greek word here continues the feelings He is having with respect to the crowd.

Here is God who has come to earth in the flesh, and is now standing right before them all. Here is God, who created all life, who created the universe, who sustains everything every moment of the day and night. Here is He who parted the waters, and rained down fire for Elijah, and did more things in history than have been recorded.

Yet all the people still think within the confining realm of this planet earth. They do not think beyond their own grief. They do not think beyond the physical environment in which they live. They think only of their loss, their needs, their immediate desires. The Apostles are worried they might get hurt, yet they are traveling with the mightiest fortress and fighting machine in existence. The sisters are saddened at the loss of their brother, yet it is Christ who has power over life and death, and has had that power since eternity past. Every generation dies, and is replaced by a new generation and so forth.

Here is the crowd, who is emotional and clueless, 'Oh look, Jesus is crying for Lazarus. Isn't that sweet! What a nice man.' Here is the crowd who questions His ability, 'Didn't He cure others? Couldn't He have cured Lazarus?' The implication is a cute but very subtle questioning or criticism of His abilities to do miracles. You see this attitude a lot in those who pursue gossiping in their life. All the little experts and critics.

God is standing right there in front of them. What would your attitude be? What would your thinking be?

Jesus arrives at the tomb and orders the stone covering removed. Now when God issues an order, don't you suppose people would execute it immediately, and without question. Abraham had that very test, a very difficult test when commanded to sacrifice his only son. But then we all have that very test when commanded to study our Bibles daily, when ordered to be perfect (remain in fellowship), when ordered walk in righteousness (apply what you learn to your life). And how many of us follow those orders immediately, and to the letter, and without question????

Martha's comment regarding the stench that will be in the tomb, and the stench which will come out, will be overpowering by now. An un-preserved dead body, after four days and in the heat of the day will decay rapidly. If you have ever lived in the country and smelled dead animals then you know what this means. If you have had the unfortunate opportunity of being around disaster areas where their are dead bodies, then you know what this means.

Why would these comments be recorded here? Jesus' command to have Mary come to meet Him was not recorded, yet Martha conveyed that request. Yet now we have the obvious comment for the circumstances. Why?

So you and I will know what happened when that stone was rolled away. Everyone present would be witness to the fact that Lazarus was indeed dead. The stench would be proof of his death. Note, that Lazarus has not yet been raised back to life.

Martha, the one who is always pointing out the obvious, has to be reminded again. 'Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?'

We'll leave our study right there, because this comment applies to us all. Unless you believe, then you will never see any glory of Gods work in your life. If you are a pessimist, a complainer, a defeatist, then you are always looking on the side of failure, and that is exactly what you will get.

If, on the other hand, you are an optimist, and innovator, a clear thinking and open minded person, then you have leaped the first hurdle toward having a great spiritual life, and from that, a great life on this earth.

To believe is not merely hearing and agreeing with something, it means that you listen, you hear, you comprehend or fathom the implications of a subject. It means that you accept as truth that which you have learned. And as such you utilize it within your thinking and daily life.

Do you believe that we should all eat the right things for good health? Of course we all do. But do we follow the right diet for a healthy life? Hummm!

Bible doctrine presents to us the perfect life. How many believe that?