Or, hear it, as a downloadable mp3.
"This wouldn't have happened if you'd been here!"
Martha said it. Mary said it. Some of the mourners were saying it. Lazarus had taken ill. Surely if Jesus were there, He would have healed him. After all, He had healed all sorts of strangers -- many of them were the strangest of strangers. Now, the brother of two of his most devoted followers gets deathly ill, and what does Jesus do?
He waits.
And waits.
And waits...
... until Lazarus dies. Jesus lets him die !
It would seem unseemly to talk about a purpose behind the act of not acting to heal Lazarus. But Jesus Himself raises the issue. He says, "It's good that I wasn't there." Huh?? Jesus had something bigger in mind than just a run-of-the-mill miracle healing. It was time to show that His power extended beyond the grave.
But even knowing that, even with so strong a purpose behind it, it still was not a matter of Jesus' just going there and popping Lazarus out of a tomb. He still had to face a large number of mourners. Lazarus was far from being a loner. His death brought much grief to many, and especially to Martha and Mary. Jesus had to come face-to-face with their anguish, anguish which wouldn't have happened if He came when He was told about the illness. The delay had such a mighty price that He was moved and troubled, so much that He wept, even though He already knew what He was about to do. There was only one thing He could do to make it worth the price. He had to call Lazarus out of the tomb.
Death is no small thing, even to God. (Think of Jesus at Gethsemane.) But that just makes victory over death even more essential. Jesus' victory over Lazarus' death. Jesus' victory over His own death. Jesus' victory over your death.
Lord, I do fear death. I will fear death. Help me to trust you through the fear, so that I might confidently live according to Your will. Amen.
There's also a downloadable Lent and Easter PDF file with lots of stuff about Lent, and Lent devotionals.