The Loving Delay

God's love is demonstrated in most unexpected ways.  When Lazarus was deathly ill, his sisters Mary and Martha sent an urgent message to Jesus to alert Him.  Moved by faith, they knew Jesus had the ability to miraculously heal Lazarus and prevent his death.  John 11:4-6 reads, "When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was."  The writer John explained because Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, He did not immediately drop everything and depart.  He waited two days before leaving for Bethany knowing by the time they arrived Lazarus would have been dead four days.  Pause for a moment to allow this to sink in.

So often people can imagine what God's love looks like--I know I do.  Since God loves people and nothing is hard for Him, why doesn't He simply do what we ask Him in a reasonable amount of time?  One answer to this question is because His love is greater than us and our apparent needs.  John 11:14-15 shows Jesus was not caught off guard by the severity of the illness of Lazarus and addressing His disciples, "Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."  Jesus was speaking to His faithful followers, not strangers on the street.  There was still additional faith they needed, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead would be a powerful display of His power and love that would save souls from eternal death.

When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Martha and Mary both lamented the fact Jesus had not arrived sooner because after their brother died all hope for his healing was lost.  But notice what Jesus audibly prayed after the stench of death filled the nostrils of onlookers in John 11:41-44:  "Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."  Seeing dead Lazarus rise caused many people to believe Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.  In allowing Lazarus to die there was opportunity for God to demonstrate His love for the living and the dead, for Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.

There are times when we have prayed urgently for God to act and nothing seems to change--perhaps things only grew worse!  A sick brother is better than a dead one, right?  But Jesus knew exactly what Lazarus and his sisters were experiencing, what He would do, and the ultimate glorification of God.  Four days for us may last for four decades, but let us never lose heart in God, His power, plans, and His amazing ability to redeem for good.  Paul who was shipwrecked, beaten, flogged, stoned and left for dead for following Jesus wrote in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  Paul knew this, as well as Lazarus and many others to this day.  May the knowledge of God's redemptive work Paul spoke of and Jesus demonstrated in John 11 trump our imaginations of what we think God ought to do.