Dig Deeper:
HE DIDN'T GO RIGHT AWAY: Lazarus and his sisters are probably some of the closest friends Jesus had while He was on earth, so it's quite surprising to reading in v6 that Jesus didn't drop everything to go help His sick friend. After all, how many times hasn't Jesus healed people whom He had no previous relationship with, but when His friend is in need, Jesus holds back. The sisters call Jesus out on this when He finally arrives - after Lazarus has been dead for four days. They both say the same thing:
If you had been here, my brother would not have died (v21 & 32).
While it may seem like Jesus didn't care enough to go, He gives the actual reason He stayed away in v42: so that the people standing there (as well as the people who would read this thousands of years later) may believe that the Father sent Him.
ANGRY WITH GOD: Jesus could have taken great offense at Mary and Martha's accusations against Him. He could have responded by explaining how He had given up all the glories of heaven just to come to earth and how amazing it is that God had become incarnate and was living in poverty for the sake of His sinful people. He could have brought back up both Mary & Martha's wretched, wrecked past and reminded that without Him they'd be nothing. But He doesn't. Mary and Martha are not the only two in the Bible to express anger at God, but God never gets angry at those who are angry with Him.
SHORT VERSE, MASSIVE THEOLOGY: Not only does Jesus not get angry at the sisters' anger with Him, but He enters into their pain. The two words of v35 are the shortest verse in the Bible:
Jesus wept.
Isn't it an amazing comfort to knows what it is to feel the anger, sadness and loss so many of us experience?
AMAZING GRACE - CHAPTER 10 DOESN'T END AT v35: As comforting as it is that Jesus felt our pain as He stood at His friend's tomb, it would be awful if the chapter ended there, with Jesus impotently weeping over His dead friend. But it doesn't end there. The biggest theological lesson in this chapter isn't Christ's intercession and experience of human emotion, rather it's the awesome fact that Jesus has authority over all things - even death!
Follow the AAA Prayer Pattern:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who listens to our anger but who has shown His glory by overcoming death (v40-41)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray the Holy Spirit will strengthen your belief so that you can see God's glory even in the midst of tragedy (v40)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
