Read John 11:10-16. Circle the words that stand out to you. What is the Lord saying to you?
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.” 13 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, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Digging Deeper
Have you ever had a brief conversation about something and then you forgot all about it, but the other person brings it up to you a day or two later? They may say, “Did you remember our last conversation about…?” My wife does not quite often to me. She doesn’t forget, but I do or want to!
Jesus makes a passing comment and as far as we know nothing more was said about that in the two days following. Jesus states that their friend has fallen asleep. The disciples practically thought that if Lazarus had physically fallen asleep, he would naturally wake up. They must have thought, “Why, then does Jesus have to go back to Bethany to awaken Lazarus? There must have been some other unfinished business that Jesus has in Bethany.”
As His disciples did not understand, He tells them plainly that Lazarus is dead. The two days that Jesus waited to go to Bethany wasn’t for Lazarus to get well. He was waiting for him to die! The work of Jesus at Bethany is incomplete. He had to go back to Bethany.
The disciples had forgotten what Jesus said two days earlier, that the sickness of Lazarus will not end in death. Thomas even says to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” From their perspective going back to Bethany meant that Lazarus, Jesus, and each of them were going to end in death as they would have to face those who previously tried to stone them. They couldn’t see any other ending.
There are times in our lives that we must revisit past events to deal with them. There may be past conversations left unresolved. Things are still hanging in the air. All of us have them but quite often we seek to just ignore them. We just want to forget them. We want to move on with our lives. Jesus could have left Lazarus in the tomb and moved on with His life, but He didn’t.
Do you have unfinished businesses in your life? Have you tried to “forget” the painful and hurtful events in your life? Maybe you’ve tried to move forward, but your find yourself stuck with the hauntings of the past. It’s like you are frozen in time, reliving the past.
We can’t run from our problems. It’s like trying to run away from one’s own shadow. The only place that we can run to whereby we don’t see our shadow is in the darkness. We’re left wondering is it better to live in darkness or face our problems.
Jesus is returning to Bethany to bring light and life. Not only to Lazarus, but also Mary and Martha, his disciples, and even the friends of Mary and Martha (v. 45). Jesus also comes to bring us light and life into our darkness. The question that arises for you and for me is, “Will you and I allow Jesus to shine His light and life into our lives?” Let’s stop living in darkness and running from the haunting “shadows” of our past. Would you be willing to not only let His light shine on you, but in you? It can be a new day for you of walking in “The Light” that Jesus brings to us.
-Kingston