SCRIPTURE: John 11
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“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.” [John 11:21-22]
What a bold statement; even after four days Martha is still convinced that Jesus could raise Lazarus with God’s help.
To believe that He is able, powerful, capable of doing the miraculous.
Technically I believe it, but do I expect it, or have I come to a place where I doubt that He will.
Martha has no idea what Jesus is going to do, she just knows that He is able.
But this passage also shows more than that He is able, it also shows that He is caring:
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. [John 11:33-35]

Jesus wept, deeply moved in spirit and troubled – Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” [John 11:36]
What a combination – great love and great power.
What would we do for our own children if we had the power to do whatever our love for them wanted.
Would they ever be sick, disappointed, heart-broken, lacking any good thing, hungry?
If Jesus is so caring and so powerful, then why is there so much misery in the world?
For God so loved the world… then why do people suffer and die?
But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” [John 11:35-37]

God’s love is not like a rich parent spoiling their child, giving them everything they want – this is not love.
God does not give us pleasures and treasures; God’s love gives us Himself.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]
I believe that as we see Jesus weeping, we see God weeping – deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
But I also think that as we see Jesus delay His return to Bethany, allowing Lazarus to die for a purpose – we see God delaying and limiting His power… for a purpose.
God’s love goes beyond our immediate demands and needs; He is working to restore the whole world and every person, to rescue them from the penalty and power of sin that causes misery and suffering.

Yes, God could immediately stop all misery and suffering and death; but it would just start up again because the sin that causes it would remain; as long as the root problem of sin remains, suffering and misery will remain.
God loves us too much to leave that problem unaddressed; therefore He does what He does, in the way and time that He does, to release us from our guilt and rescue us from the grip of sin.
This particular resurrection for Lazarus did not take away the curse of sin and death – he eventually died again.
But the Lord performed this miracle (and all the others) to show us that He is caring and able to do what it takes to ultimately rescue us.
And this He did not by resurrecting Lazarus, but by dying Himself.
We are not rescued and released by His miracles, but by His own death and resurrection.
This is what we need more than anything else – the real evidence of God’s love.
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” [John 11:49-50]
Little did Caiaphas know how true he spoke…

PRAYER:
Lord, You do care, You do weep when You see me suffer. And You are at work for my good. I believe that, not because You fix all my daily problems, but because You died for me. Thank You for loving me enough to deal with the real problem in me, and in the world.