Don't stop in the middle

We were discussing the cost of following Jesus tonight and a difficult decision was brought up.  The person made the right decision, and it cost friendships and caused disappointment and some embarrassment.  God pointed me toward the following passage.  I read it and didn’t really get the connection at first.  But as I listened and then began to speak, God made the application plain.

John 11

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)  So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

The first understanding came as I considered the words, “This sickness will not end in death.”  It was the word ‘end’ that jumped off the page at me.  Lazarus did die.  But that’s not how the story ends.  That’s the middle of the story.  Too often in my life, when God has worked outside of my understanding while asking me to believe and follow, I see the events and my fear and emotions give way to the ‘middle’ even though he promises an end.  I want to believe, but I’m stuck in the middle and that doesn’t look so good.  It’s hard to hear “This sickness will not end in death,” when you are looking at a smelly tomb.

 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.”

There is another issue dealt with, but for now, I will close the gap in this story.  The time between the message that Lazarus was sick and his death had a purpose.  The events did not take Jesus by surprise.  His disciples, his friends –Lazarus’ sisters- did not understand the purpose, but it was there anyway.  He waited with purpose.  This is a hard part. 

Was there a reason why the young woman mentioned above had to face temptation and choose a right path that separated her from her friends?  Was it just about choosing right?  Or was the choice a vehicle to a greater purpose and a waiting revelation?  Had she chosen the wrong way would God’s purpose have been thwarted?  I don’t believe so.  I know in my heart that God knew her choice before she stood at the crossroad.  But just because her sight only allowed embarrassment and rejection, does not mean that that is the purpose.  That is the middle.  The promise is still good even when we see the worst possible scenario.

11 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.”

12 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.

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

Lazarus was not nearly dead, he was 4 days stinking in the grave dead.  But Jesus said “This sickness will not end in death.”

21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;  and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.”  When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.  Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.  When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

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.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

Sometimes, we just have to hold on to what we know God said.  I don’t think Mary whispered with resignation “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.”  You see, Mary knew the power of Jesus.  She had faith that it would be one way.  They would call him.  He would come and heal their brother and all would be well with the world.  But then Mary was caught in the middle.  Martha for all her worldly busy attitude was willing to hear, to consider even when she didn’t understand.  She said “If you had been here my brother would not have died.  But even now I know God will give you whatever you ask for.”   

But Mary who sat and learned from him, Mary who washed his feet with her tears,  Mary was devastated.  Jesus didn’t come through for her family.  When he showed up, she didn’t even go out to meet him.  When he asked for her, she went and she cried out of the agony of her lost faith, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  The same words, but oh the difference.

The same event came to both sisters.  They called for help.  Jesus delayed.  Their brother died.  They were both caught in the middle.  Jesus reasoned with Martha.  His heart broke for Mary and her lack of understanding.

34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  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.”   When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The sickness did not END in death.  But it went through death.  It occurred to me tonight that the verses that seem like an interim are not at all so.  There was another ‘middle’ around the corner.  Jesus was preparing his followers for that.

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

8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light.  It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

The disciples knew the leaders of the temple hated Jesus.  They knew Caiaphas had advised the leaders that he should die in place of the people.  They knew all this was waiting.  Jesus had been teaching them about his death and resurrection.  But he had also promised it would not end in death.  It was confusing.  He knew they didn’t understand.  He understood that they would be caught in the middle.  They would believe; they would be tested.  It would appear that he had failed them but there was a promised end and it would not be death.  In one less day than had transpired with Lazarus, he would keep the promise of life.  Darkness would not win.