Friday after Jubilate Sunday
Posted on April 26, 2024 by under
Scripture: St. John 11:1-13 (NKJV)
11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 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. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
Devotion
Physical death is not the death that matters most. Spiritual death—disbelief in the Lord Jesus Christ—is. This is why Jesus says, “this sickness is not unto death.” Lazarus died once and was raised to life, and we assume he later died again. Moreover, by raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus caused the Jews to hate him (John 12:10). So, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, this was either a sick joke, or He had something better in mind than life on this earth. This is exactly what Jesus says two verses after our text: “I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe” (John 11:15).
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead not to give Lazarus a better life at that time, but to give us a reason to believe in the final Resurrection of the dead, on the Last Day. We confess in the Athanasian Creed, “at [Christ’s] coming all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give an account of their own works.” By raising Lazarus, Jesus proves that He can do so, and that the Resurrection will be a true bodily resurrection. On that day, those who believe in Him will never die again.
Collect: Almighty God, Who showest to them that be in error the light of Thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness: Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Religion that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
