Got Fruit ?

Jesus wept, at the death of His dear friend Lazarus; in spite of His under control demeanor expressed earlier in John 11.  Four days earlier Jesus received word from Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus was sick.  Having received the news, the thought might be to assume that Jesus was distressed or fretful, but Scripture doesn’t really paint this picture of Jesus’ reaction.  Instead we get a cool as the other side of the pillow reaction from Christ regarding the news.

How so?  Well Scripture tells us that instead of abandoning whatever He was doing, and returning to Judea, Christ stayed two more days where He was.

John 11:6
6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more day.

After two days, Jesus announces to his disciples that Lazarus has died (John 11:11), and He’s going to resurrect him from the dead. The Bible doesn’t tell us that word had been sent a second time to Jesus regarding Lazarus’ death, only that Jesus "somehow" knew that His friend Lazarus had died.  A skeptic could argue that it was a guess on Jesus part concerning Lazarus dying.  What deflates this argument however is what Jesus later says in John 14-15, something that speaks of His power, authority, & authenticity in my opinion as well as a well orchestrated climactic statement.

John 11:14-15
14 So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

Further along Jesus makes a similar statement to the purpose and reasoning behind not only the death of Lazarus, but His own reaction to the initial news of Lazarus being ill.

John 11:41-42
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

Jesus has a beloved friend first stricken with illness, then die.  Instead of hurrying off to see His friend Lazarus while he was still ill though, Jesus stays on course with the script He’s been given by God the Father.  So here comes the neat part to all of this.  The events have been set in motion:

• Lazarus becoming ill
• Lazarus dying
• Many Jews coming to comfort Mary & Martha
• Jesus moving at the appropriate moment, relevant to the events
• Martha receiving Jesus just outside the village
• Mary told by Martha of Jesus’ return to see Lazarus’ body (the Jews that came to comfort are with Mary)
• Mary goes to see Jesus
• The Jews follow Mary to where Jesus was
• Jesus, Mary and the Jews all go to Lazarus’ tomb

Now, in three instances within John 11 people make the claim that if Jesus had been there in the first place Lazarus wouldn’t have died:

• 21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (John 11:21)
• 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:32)
• 36 Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" (John 11:36-37)

John 11:41-42
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

Three verses later the purpose (reiterated) of Jesus not only performing the resurrection of Lazarus is revealed, but also it’s events are tied into His eventual crucifixion; as the Pharisees plotted to kill Him after hearing the news of the resurrection of Lazarus and the conversion of many.

John 11:45
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin…

Our natural inclination may be to react to circumstances based on emotions, assumptions or our own "heartfelt" desires.  The problem with either of these methods is that we can sometimes jump into a situation without knowing all of the facts, thus running the risk of creating a difficult if not impossible situation to recover from.  God however, knowing and understanding all things, knows best how to move us forward in every situation, not only for our own welfare, but most importantly for His good will and purpose(s).

Grace and peace be with you.

File under: Eat Your Heart Out M. Night Shyamalan

Earlier today, I was contemplating linking a post or two from my blog and from my church’s blog to Facebook.  Several young people from the church congregate there, and "it seemed like a good thing" to use this opportunity as a furthered means of encouragement.

I had a pause though, a thought; that just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should do it.  An assessment of things told me that aside from the potential to encourage the young folks, there could be negative traffic and comments as well; further opening the door to more time spent managing blogs versus constructive time being spent in God’s Word and wisdom or becoming more rounded in my reading habits.  The idea was abandoned however, after thinking about it from a Scriptural perspective however.  A verse from Matthew that I’m sure I’ve quoted often once again comes to mind:

Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

The temptation to rationalize our actions as spiritual (spiritualize reflex)  can become an automatic thought process (reflexive) if a Christian is not careful to maintain a Biblical perspective and Biblical balance (heart,soul, and mind) on all aspects of their life.  By "spiritualized reflex" I mean reacting to situations, experiences, circumstances etc; that seem like a good idea to pursue because they feel right.  To put it another way, action/reaction based on an an intellectual assessment without asking the question: "Just because I can do it, should I do it?".

In the situation with the linking mentioned earlier, I pointed out just a few of the negatives that would impact me.  There’s the question(s) though of how my actions might impact my young friends from church, or what is the effect on my church?  Maybe they’re receptive and appreciative (if they even notice the links), maybe not.  As for the church specifically, who’s to say?  Maybe it provides an opportunity to be exposed to more folks locally, thus a means to witness to them about Christ.  Maybe it points someone to the new church home they’ve been searching for.

A lot of "maybes" to mull over, which kind of tells me that maybe the thing to do is to just leave it with God.  Maybe He simply wanted me to be still for a moment, in order to speak to my heart, soul and mind.

Grace and peace be with you.