The Illness Of Lazarus (J42)

Word came to Jesus that His friend was sick,
Lazarus, at whose home He often stayed;
Sisters Mary and Martha pled, “Come quick,”
But two days more, where He was, He delayed!
“This illness will not end in death,” He told
The ones sent, that the sisters ease their grief;
“It is come for God’s glory to unfold,
And, in the Son, for more to have belief!”
He told His disciples when the time had come
“Let us go up to Judah, where there is need,”
But they said, “Not there, Lord! You escaped from
Those Jews before; they have your death decreed!”
Thomas said to the others, “Let us go,
That we may die with the Savior, also!”

Scripture Quoted John 11:9-14 (NIV)
“Jesus announced, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.’ After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’ His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, that you may believe.’ “

Commentary on John 11:1-16 (NIV)
It seems cruel of Jesus not to drop everything and rush to answer the plea of Lazarus’ sisters, but it was His intention to raise him from the dead, for the glory of God and that more people, even His disciples, would deepen their beliefs in Him as being divine. Since John included only seven of the hundreds of miracles done by Jesus, the raising of Lazarus after he had been dead four days at Bethany, a village less than two miles from the temple, would attract the attention of all Judea, and be fitting for the seventh and last miraculous sign in the book. To help Mary and Martha wait until He came, He did send them word that Lazarus’ sickness would not end in death, but given His manner of speaking spiritually, His message was little consolation to the sisters.

His statement in verses 9 and 10 (quoted above) is a good example of the spiritual language that is impossible for the “natural” (without the Holy Spirit) man to decipher; it is difficult for most Christians to grasp its meaning. In Jesus’ mind, His mission of dying on the Passover was always uppermost; by “daylight” He means the time left before that dying day; by “night” He means after His death. He was telling His disciples that it was perfectly safe for Him to go to Judea before the time of His death, for He would employ divine power if necessary to avoid premature arrest.

His disciples had been with Him on the several occasions when His claiming to be sent from God and that “I and my Father are one”; they had seen the anger of the Pharisees boil over until they began picking up stones to throw at Him and kill Him; they were reluctant to go back to the temple area. Bethany was so close to the temple that Jesus was sure to attract the attention of the Pharisees. Yet, it was at the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha that Jesus and the disciples had stayed on several of the visits to Jerusalem. These were human friends of Jesus; He had to go. Some modern film writers have mistakenly interpreted Mary's actions toward Jesus as "eros" or sexual love between them, and made a movie about it; that is falsehood.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)