Today’s Assignment is to read John 11. For more information on the Focus Bible reading plan, please check it out here.
From John 11:5:
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
Wait, what!?
Jesus loved them, and that’s why he delays his visit? How does that make sense? Even Martha and Mary themselves greet Jesus with their disappointment and confusion: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
For Jesus to avoid going to Judea at all would have made sense – the last time he was there, people tried to stone him. The threat is so real that his disciples protest when he decides to go anyway. But deciding to go to Judea two days later doesn’t save Lazarus, and it doesn’t spare him from the threat of those who want to kill him.
Why did Jesus wait? Why did he let Lazarus die? He could have stopped it!
Those protests feel very familiar to my soul. I, too, find myself falling at Jesus’s feet in grief and disappointment about what I wanted to have happen, or what I wish He would have done. Can you relate?
The answer, of course – are in Jesus’s very words in verse 4:
…it is for God’s glory so that God’s son may be glorified through it.
This is reminiscent of Jesus’s answer to the disciples’ question about the reason the man was born blind in John 9:3:
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Yes.
Sometimes when we desperately ask God for something, he will say “no” or “wait,” and that can feel devastating. In this life we will be grieved, disappointed, discouraged, and tempted to doubt God’s love for us. There will be times when we find ourselves praying for faith while tears drip off of our chins.
Sometimes God delays (or makes us wait), and even this is out of love for us.
As hard as it is for our sinful and rebellious hearts to understand (or trust) – what we long for is the glory of God. Our souls were created to worship the transcendent God, and regardless of what our temporary cravings tell us, nothing else will satisfy or thrill us like glorifying Jesus himself.
The God who created us knows us better than we know ourselves. He graciously works all things together for his glory. He wants us to see His glory, and he wants others to see his glory in us...because it is the best thing for us.
In those moments — when the pillowcase is wet with tears — we should to envision Jesus, cupping our tear-streaked face in his hands and asking: “Do you believe me?”
Do you believe that my glory is enough for you?
Do you believe that my delay is because I love you? (vs 5)
Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the life? (vs 25)
Do you believe that the one who believes in me will live, even though they die? (vs 25)
Do you believe whoever lives by believing in me will never die? (vs 26)
Do you believe that I know what you’re going through? (vs 33)
Do you believe that I love you? (vs 36)
Do you believe that I will do what I said I will do? (vs 42)
Do you believe I can do what I said I will do? (vs 44)
Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? (vs 40)
Dear Heavenly Father,
You are glorious. You are not far away, but close. You know us. You know our situation. We know you are enough for us.
So often we set our hearts on things of this earth. Help us set our hearts and minds on you. Help us to seek your glory first and primarily in our souls.
Thank you, Jesus, for being the resurrection and the life. Thank you for showing us your glory and using the circumstances of this life to show your glory as well.
Show us your glory. We need you more than we need anything else. Make what we know to be true in your Word true in our hearts. Lord we believe, help our unbelief!
In Jesus’s Name,
Amen
Growing in the Gospel 